


Beauty in a Bullet's Shell

by Darkflamej



Series: Heritage of a Blade [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Female Clone, I dont follow canon, OC-centric, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Slow Burn, like at all, like it wont happen for a long time, slowest of slow burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:47:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 53
Words: 155,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23564020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkflamej/pseuds/Darkflamej
Summary: Don’t ask her how it happened because she doesn’t know. Just made like this, the supervisors at Kamino said it was a glitch in the system that made her the way she is. Clone Trooper 19580, more commonly known as Dagger, is a female clone. She doesn’t understand it any more than anyone else, but the superiors made sure that no one outside of them knew. Clones were expensive so they weren’t just going to get rid of her. They just taught her to always hide that she was a female, unsure how the other clones would react. Kaminoans were not ones to blindly trust the actions of others, even if the others were their own creations.---This is Dagger's story and even she doesn't know how it is going to end. All she knows is that she can be a good soldier and she will do anything to prove it.
Series: Heritage of a Blade [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018372
Comments: 153
Kudos: 224





	1. A Beginning as all Others

Don’t ask her how it happened because she doesn’t know. Just made like this, the supervisors at Kamino said it was a glitch in the system that made her the way she is. Clone Trooper 19580, more commonly known as Dagger, is a female clone. She doesn’t understand it any more than anyone else, but the superiors made sure that no one outside of them knew. Clones were expensive so they weren’t just going to get rid of her. They just taught her to always hide that she was a female, unsure how the other clones would react. Kaminoans were not ones to blindly trust the actions of others, even if the others were their own creations.

She never takes off her helmet, the one with a voice box in the mouth piece to change her voice to be like the others. She goes through training, all the while kept separate from her brothers, only allowed minimal interactions with them. The time that would have otherwise been spent socializing was used to give her more training.  
On assignment day she is shipped out to the 501st, she hears that they are on a joint tour with 212th Attack Battalion. They had two Jedi assigned to the regiment now. Luckily for her she is the only one to be assigned to the unit at this time so she gets to introduce herself to Jedi masters Obi-wan and Anakin as well as Captain Rex and Commander Cody all by herself. Yay. 

Rex read her transfer sheet and asked, “you have a nickname yet shiny?”

“Dagger sir,” the clone responded.

He nodded, “very well, Commander Cody will show you to the barracks and then the mess hall. You are dismissed.”

Then Master Obi-wan broke his silence, “Just a moment Captain, with your permission, may I have a word with Dagger alone?”

Confused but never one to argue with a Jedi, the Captain nodded, “we will wait down the hall.”

The jedi walked back into their meditation room, it was obvious to Dagger that she was to follow, so that is what she did. Her palms were sweaty, why would the Jedi want to talk to her alone? There was surely nothing she could have done wrong already.

When the door was firmly closed, Obi-wan turned to Dagger, “would you please take off your helmet.”

“Respectfully sir, I would rather not. It’s the same face you see everywhere else,” Dagger said.

With a gentle smile he shook his head, “we both know that isn’t true.”

“Are you going to kick me out?” Dagger asked.

“Not unless you do something wrong. However I think it would be best if your brothers knew about your situation instead of hiding it from them,” Obi-wan said.

“Are you going to force me to tell them?” she asked.

Obi-wan sighed, “no, we would not take that choice from you. However, it would be better if it came from you instead of something bad happening and them finding out that way. Just something to consider.”

“They wouldn’t accept me. How could they? My brothers are better off thinking I am one of them.”

The jedi exchanged a look, both knowing that there was no getting to the clone now. Clones never 100% trusted jedi, it was just a thing. It was especially apparent when dealing with a new clone to the unit. Obi-wan nodded, “very well. If you ever need anything that you don’t think your brothers can help with just know we are here. We like to be able to help with our units.”

“Thank you, sir,” Dagger said.

“You are dismissed.”

Dagger walked out of the room and silently met with the captain and commander down the hall. They were midconverstation when she arrived, after they finished the thought they led her to the barracks to drop off her bag of items. She was too busy looking around to pay much attention to the small conversation that the captain and commander were having. She had never been on a Star ship this big before, it was amazing, and now it was home. Dagger just hoped that she could stay.  
Out of the corner of his eye Rex surveyed the trooper internally laughing, shinnies and their armor. They never wanted to take it off at first. His newest trooper had already decorated his. A vertical blue stripe over the left eye and a horizontal black stripe at the left of his chest with a thin blue underline. At least he got the color right. Rex left him with the Commander and headed to the mess hall himself.

After he put her stuff on the empty top bunk near the middle of the room Cody led the newest trooper to the mess hall. They walked in silence, which was relieving to Dagger and slightly disconcerting to Cody. Shinnies usually never shut up, but this one was being weird. Maybe it was because he came without any of his friends from Kamino. Dagger followed him into the mess hall and sat with the rest of the 501st not going to the lunch line to get any food. 

She didn’t know anyone so she just stood awkwardly behind Rex for a moment before asking “sir? Is it ok if I sit here?”

“Sure,” he said, barely turning around.

With a silent sigh of relief she sat and just stared down at the table trying her best to not call attention to herself. Rex looked over at the trooper skeptically, “you not going to eat Blade?”

“It’s Dagger sir, and no I ate before I arrived,” she lied. 

“Sorry Dagger, I’ll get it right next time,” the Captain said, he hated getting troopers’ names wrong.

“It’s alright sir, really,” she cursed herself slowly, you don’t just correct your captain you just let him call you whatever he wants. Don’t be a smart ass Dagger.

Two other troopers sat down at the table, one next to Dagger and one across from him. The one across the table had a hand print of his helmet, “what’s with the helmet kid? It’s dinner time.”

“I don’t like to take it off,” she replied.

The one next to her piped up, “why? You got a nasty scar under there? Bad tattoo? Rash that never went away?”

“Echo,” came Rex’s stern voice, “leave him alone.”

“Oh come on Cap'n' I’m just curious,” he whined, “you got a name yet shinny?”

“Dagger,” was her only response.

“Oooo edgy, that’s neat. Oh! Is this your dagger Dagger?” He asked, taking her dagger out of its sheath on her thigh.

“Hey!” She exclaimed snatching it back. She leveled it at him, “this is mine. Don’t take it.”

He held up his hands in surrender and she put it away, “ok fine, don’t touch your stuff got it. Be careful Fives this one is possessive.”

The clone across the table, Fives, rolled his eyes, “sorry kid you are just going to have to get used to Echo, he gets into everyone’s stuff, he doesn’t mean any harm.”

She nodded and put her knife away. 

Fives leaned over the table munching on an apple, “so is that why you don’t take off the helmet?”

Dagger tilted her head in confusion, So Fives further explained, “afraid someone is going to steal it?”

“Oh,” she responded, “I mean not really, but sure.”

“What does that mean,” Echo asked.

“None of your business,” she cut back, he gave her a funny look.

Before any of them could continue the conversation. The Captain stood, signaling to the others that dinner was over and it was time to go. Dagger followed closely behind Rex, mostly because she didn’t yet know the lay out of the ship and needed help finding the way back to the barracks, but also because she didn’t want to be questioned anymore by Echo and Fives. Rex glanced over his shoulder when he felt the presence of someone following rather close behind him, closer than most others did.

He smiled in amusement when he saw it was the new recruit, they were generally rather clingy. However none of them had ever been clingy to him before, they usually stuck to the side of one of the other brothers.

“You know you don’t have to walk behind me Dagger,” he said.

The Captain heard him increase his stride to match Rex’s and walk next to him. As he came up from behind Rex noticed their height difference, Dagger was a few inches shorter than him, even with his helmet on. 

Normally he wouldn’t notice if it was anyone else, but with the clone they were all the same size everyone exactly the same except for maybe hair color but the same height, it was just a bit odd that Dagger was shorter. 

Rex shrugged his shoulders and the thought passed. Dagger was probably just younger than him anyway, maybe he passed training quicker and was able to come out into the field sooner. They all grew so fast that he’d be the same size in no time, not that it mattered anyway. As long as the gear fit and he could do his part height didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered as long as he did his job to protect his brothers and accomplished the mission.

They made it back to the barrack wing of the ship and they all filtered into their rooms, groups of ten to twenty in each. Dagger looked around for the room number that she had put her stuff in earlier. She found it and followed the line of troopers who were filing into the room. 

The captain and commander both walked into the room before her. She wondered why, most officers had their own rooms and didn’t have to sleep with the rest of them. Sounded nice, to be able to get away and have some privacy, but she guessed there must not be any of those rooms on the Resolute.

Everyone congregated into what seemed like their friend groups and were just casually talking. She made a b-line to her bed and climbed up to sit, she had a great view of the room being up so high and being along the wall. 

She ruffled through her bag, putting her belongings away in the small drawers that were attached to the side of the bunks. The bottom four were for the lower bunk and the top four were for her things. She took out her neatly folded clothes and put them away. She did so slowly, trying to make the time until lights out go faster, if she was occupied then no one would come talk to her.

At least that was the idea, then a head popped up in front of her as she was still leaded over the side of her bed. She paused just looking at him. He looked up at her expectantly, it was the clone from earlier.

“What do you want, thief,” she said trying to be playful with her words.

He looked taken aback, her words obviously coming across as accusatory and not fun. He regained his composure and said, “I was just coming to say hello, you didn’t have to come at me like that. It was just a joke, Dagger.”

She looked down, pulling her arms in, not responding.

He pushed her drawers closed and started climbing up the furniture like a monkey. She just looked at him confused about what he was doing. Before she knew it he was perched on the railing of her bed, “mind scooting over?”

She nodded and did, in fact scoot over. He hopped onto the bed and sat next to her, “So how did you get your nickname so fast?”

Dagger let out a small sigh, great now she was trapped in a conversation, “I really like the knives they let us use in training. I would always play with the daggers in training when we had free time. It stuck.”

“Oh that’s pretty cool, I bet when we have our leave on planets we can find some cool ones for you to buy, just save your stipend for it. The nice ones get expensive. I know we don’t have a lot of room for a collection, but you can always get a few things in without getting in trouble as long as they aren’t war trophies. Any questions you have about the ship or what we do here as a unit?”

She shook her head no.

“Really nothing at all,” he asked, “have you seen the whole ship yet?”

Another shake of her head. He perked up, “oh! I can take you on a tour of the ship! Captain! Can I take Dagger on a tour of the ship?”

“No.” came the definitive response from the captain who was sitting on the edge of the lower bunk across from where they were. 

Echo frowned, “Awwwww, Captain, why not?”

“First of all because I’m your Captain and you don’t question what I say. And second because it is lights out in three minutes and I don’t need you going around and waking up the Jedi with your racket in the middle of the night,” Rex said calmly. 

Echo frowned, “can I take him tomorrow?”

Rex laughed slightly, “yes you can, just don’t get the kid in trouble on his second day.”

“I would never,” Echo scoffed dramatically, “honestly captain it's like you don’t know me at all.

“Lights out!” called Commander Cody from the doorway, flicking off the lights and heading to his bunk which was right under Daggers, “Echo I know you like making friends but you have to sleep in your own bunk.”

Echo muttered out his reply, but did in fact climb down from her bunk and walked down a few bunks to his own. The room only lit with the small emergency lights that lined the floor. 

Once he was gone Dagger let out the breath that she didn’t know she was holding and relaxed a bit. She would have to get used to being around people in such close proximity. During training she had always been separated more than this, they all were. Its just how training went and the nature of being in the Clone Army was that everyone was really close. 

She laid face down with her helmet still on. Dagger didn’t go to sleep for a long time that night there was too much on her mind. All she wanted was to be able to stay to be given a chance, so she had to protect her secret with everything she had.


	2. Falling into Place

Lights, immediately, with absolutely no warning, were flipped on accompanied by the booming voice of Captain Rex, “GOOOOOOOD MORNING BROTHERS!”

It scared Dagger so bad that she flipped over suddenly to try and sit up to see what the noise was. In doing so she quickly ran out of room on her bunk, she fell right off the side and right on to the person getting up from the bunk below her.

“Oh my god Commander, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what happened,” She quickly explained jumping up off the floor and pulling him up from where he landed when she fell on him.

He rubbed his head, “damn kid you even sleep with the helmet on? Stay on the bed next time.”

“I’m so sorry, it won’t happen again sir,” she hurriedly explained.

He nodded, “it’s ok kid. As you said, don’t do it again.”

She nodded and started putting on her armor as everyone else was doing. At least she wouldn’t look as out of place if everyone was not wearing their armor. Her luck didn’t last for long as they all immediately headed to the dining hall. Great, she had no excuse to not eat this time. Her stomach was growling, but she couldn’t eat with her brothers, they would find out what she was.

She walked quietly at the back of the group, mind working at warp speed to try and come up with a plan. Just as the endings of one was starting to come up, Echo walked up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders playfully.

“Whats cookin’ Dagger? You seem to be thinking awful hard for being this early in the morning,” he said.

She felt her stomach drop, she wouldn’t be able to enact her plan if she had Echo talking to her. She had two options, either be really invested in the conversation so that way no one would notice she wasn’t eating, or she could ignore him and he would go away. With the latter she would have to ignore someone who was just trying to be nice to her. Sure, Echo wasn’t doing it in the best way, he was just a bit too much for her demeanor, but he was nice all the same. She just took longer to get used to new people than most clones did.

She just didn’t know who to trust if she couldn’t even trust herself. From what she had seen of Echo the day before it would be pretty hard to get away from talking to him. So it looked like she wasn’t going to be eating much breakfast today. 

However as she went through the line, picking up a pear on the way through, she realized that he wasn’t so bad after all. He was actually pretty amusing to talk to and Echo listened intently when she decided to talk. While sitting at the table she kept the pear in front of her and kept the conversation going. 

No one said anything about her helmet, even though they had all taken off theirs and had them sitting on the table next to them. None of the other clones even suggested that they noticed, they were too busy asking the new clone all of the questions they could think of. Did you have the same instructor I did when going through training? What section did you do best at? Why are you the only one assigned to us, usually there are at least three at a time? How do you like the ship? All things like that. 

She answered all of their questions to the best of her ability. Somethings she just didn’t know how to answer and she stayed quiet. When there was only a few minutes left of breakfast she excused herself to go to the bathroom, bringing her pear with her. 

Dagger didn’t think that anyone noticed her sneaking the food into her pocket as she walked away. She was wrong, as dark brown eyes watched her closely, wondering what Dagger was doing and why she wasn’t eating.

When she got to the bathroom she made sure it was empty and locked the door. She ripped off her helmet and felt the cool recycled air on her face. It felt nice to be able to breathe the outside air for once and not have to breathe it through a filter. 

After setting the helmet she reached into her pocket and pulled out the pair. Turned away from the small mirror that decorated the bathroom wall she started eating. Her stomach growled loudly as she started to eat. The pear was gone all too soon, she didn’t have time to worry about that, she had to get back out to her brothers before they got suspicious.

She adjusted her helmet and walked out of the bathroom, sliding back into her seat silently. Dagger talked with her brothers for a few more minutes until it was time to leave. They had an hour of free time to spare until training started.

After walking out of the dining hall she tried to slink away from the group to go explore the ship, then she felt a hand clap down on her shoulder. Her stomach dropped as she turned around to see Echo standing behind her. Today didn’t seem to be a day where she would be getting a break. 

“C’mon, let's go exploring,” He said smiling before putting on his helmet.

Dagger followed him closely, listening intently as he explained what every part of the ship was. She was trying to commit it all to memory, which was proving to be difficult due to the size of the ship. 

Echo kept talking as she listened, not bothering to respond. He would ask her a question every once in a while but she just stayed silent. He didn’t seem to mind that she wasn’t responding

Did she want to make friends or did she want to isolate herself so they wouldn’t care if they found out? She hadn’t figured that out yet, never really had friends during training. The instructors had kept her separate when they could so she hadn’t been able to have free time with her brothers. Being allowed to be with Echo was new, she was curious about it. What did her brothers do when they thought no one else was watching? What was it like to be one of them? Would they accept her?

“Yeah, I’d like that,” she answered to his latest question, she had made up her mind. 

Echo’s head nodded, looking at the clone to his side for just a moment longer after he finally got a response. If he wanted to respond, he chose not to, instead just kept on with the conversation that he was having.

The time passed a lot quicker when Dagger had started to talk to him. She found out the best spots to hang out, the best ones for getting away for a moment, even different places to not be at certain times. The latter being anywhere near the Jedi when they were meditating or sleeping. They didn’t particularly mind, but it was best to just leave them alone until they called upon you for something, which rarely happened.

“If you ask me, they are magic. Don’t get on their bad side, we don’t have the kind of power they do and we can’t fight them. I’ve seen them throw boulders the size of twenty brothers like it was nothing with their magic force stuff,” he said.

She nodded along with him, thinking about the crazy stories she heard about the Jedi. Could they all be true?

Sooner than the pair had expected their hour of free time was over. Now it was time for training. They slid into the training hangar as Captain Rex started to brief everyone. Everyone was strapping on their armor as they listened to him. They were doing combat practice, hand to hand. After being told to partner up, Dagger turned to Echo to see if they could be partners, but the clone was pulled away by Fives who had already decided that he and Echo would be partners. 

Shoulders slumping slightly at the defeat, Dagger looked around for anyone else without a partner. She was starting to realize why clones were assigned to units in groups. Groups of an even number. That’s because everything was done in even numbers. And she was, once again, the odd one out.

Before she had to go ask the Captain what she should do he came up to her and said, “You seem to be in need of a partner.”

“Yes sir,” she responded.

“Well let’s get started,” he said.

Her eyes darted around from under her helmet. Unsure about what she was supposed to do. There wasn’t much of an option anyway. So she fell into a defensive stance and followed along as they went through warm up exercises. Lightly jabbing at each other, never making contact. 

Once they were warmed up, they started sparring practice. They would go over a move first, making sure Dagger understood it, then they would execute with the appropriate block from the other person. They had been doing so for only a few minutes when Rex suddenly stopped and took off his helmet. His gaze analyzing Dagger. She stood up straight, knowing better to question what an officer was doing. 

“Why are you so short?” 

Taken aback she couldn’t help the response that came out of her mouth, “excuse me?!”

“I mean like not in a bad way, but why are you so short compared to everyone. How old are you,” he asked, amending his first question.

“I’m eight,” she answered, scuffing her boot on the floor.

“Training usually ends when we are ten. Got some growing to do don’t ya?” he said with a smile.

She nodded, her face covered by the helmet she wasn’t good at lying. She was ten like the others, but the Kaminoans put in her record that she was eight to hide the fact that she was so short. Or at least explain away her smaller stature.

The captain put his helmet back on and they started to spar again, as they went along he would give her tips on how to fight a taller opponent. Different stances that weren’t necessarily standard procedure, but would be helpful when in battle. If it ever came to hand to hand combat, which usually it didn’t. As they usually just shot down everything in their path with blasters. It never hurt to be prepared. That’s why they did drills and training. 

“I might have you go train with Ashoka when she comes back, she might be able to give you better tips than I can for fighting bigger opponents,” Rex said offhandedly.

Dagger tensed up, “sir, I might be smaller than you but I can fight just as well as you can. I can prove it.”

Oh. Rex realized how that must have sounded. Just got to the unit and being told that he needs to get more training, Dagger must have thought that he was being insulted. Rex held up his hands slightly, “I was just thinking out loud. I don’t think it’s necessary, you are doing fine kid.”

Dagger stayed quiet, she didn’t like it. She didn’t want to need separate training anymore, especially with someone who wasn’t a brother. She just wanted to be able to be with her brothers. To be good enough. She didn’t notice that she had started to hit harder and move faster than she had been before the short conversation. 

Rex was amused at the new kid's anger. That's how all the newbies were, so quick to anger. Dagger didn’t even seem to realize that he was getting angry, but it was hard to tell from behind the helmet. The captain just went along with it, responding with strength. If it helped him let out steam then he would fight Dagger, but then he would put him on his ass. It was just how it worked, wasn’t to be mean but he always had to end up doing it to all of them at least once. Dagger would have to learn to control his anger somehow and not be quick to upset. Goodness, youngsters were the worst. Why was this brother special? Why was he released to the field a full two years early?

One jab came just a little too close to Rex’s face for his liking and he had had enough of the sparr. He hooked his arm under Dagger’s extended one, pinning it momentarily. Then he swept his feet from under him and shoved him back to the floor. At least that was the idea. 

It would have worked too, had Dagger been normal sized. Instead Dagger went flying back much further than expected and landed on the hard hangar floor instead of on the mat with a thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up... Dagger getting into a fight with Captain Rex. Because that couldn't end poorly could it? Comments are greatly appreciated. Until next time!


	3. First Day Fights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the story so far! If you can comment I would greatly appreciate it, also it helps me know how I am doing with the story. Without further adue...  
> ~~

The crack of his helmet against the concrete called the attention of everyone in the rooms. Everyone stood still trying to get a look at what happened. The whole room was silent. The captain, who was usually nice, had just thrown the new recruit off the mat. Everyone was stunned into speechlessness.

“Holy shit dude, you flew!” Ah, there was the loudmouth, good job Waxer. Everyone relaxed slightly and there were a few nervous chuckles, but they were still on edge.

Rex was hurrying over to help Dagger up when she sprung to her feet straight into an offensive stance, “again!”

The Captain stopped in his tracks and everyone took a breath at the same time. That had never happened before. Once the captain laid them down they stayed down, tucked their tails and learned their lesson. Not this crackhead. He wanted more, and no one was going to miss this. They all cleared the mat and made a wide circle around them. 

Fives ran to the hallway and yelled, “new meat just challenged the Captain to a fight!”

Dagger only saw the clones streaming into the hangar for a moment before focusing again on her opponent. He was just standing there, as if he hadn’t just thrown her across the floor. Effectively ruining the nonexistent reputation she had and showing that she was incompetent. She had to prove him wrong. She had to show him that she could fight. She didn’t need her captain sending her to have extra training with an outsider just because she accidentally let him get the better of her.

Oh boy, Rex knew that stance. The stance of a brother with something to prove, “listen Dagger I didn’t mean to throw you like that. We ain’t gotta fight like this.”

“Well it happened so now we do. I’ll show you that I can fight just as well as you can Captain. I will,” she responded. Determination was laced in every word, he could only nod his head and lift his fists. Damn these rookies, always had something to prove. 

They circled each other, while other sub units from the ship filed into the room to watch. Anyone who had heard and didn’t have an immediate job to attend to came to see what was going on. Echo leaned into Fives whispering that he bet Dagger would win. Fives just laughed and pushed him off, no way in hell.

Dagger was analyzing her sparring partner as she had been for the better part of the past hour. Rex, who had more experience in literally everything, Was just trying to figure out what he was going to do with this new brother. Dagger was going to have to do a lot of learning to figure out where he stands within the unit. From the looks of it the unit would have some adjusting to do as well. Dagger’s attitude and mentality, from what Rex could tell, was different from everyone else in the unit. 

Rex allowed himself a small smile from under his helmet. It was about time someone came along and shook up the unit. If they became complacent they would become predictable. As long as he didn’t cause a lot of problems he would do just fine. However, Rex had to focus on the fight that he had silently accepted. If he had said no there would have been an unresolved hostility from Dagger. He knew that the clone wasn’t being disrespectful, he was just trying to show that he wasn’t weak.

After a minute of circling, Dagger made the first move. She made a calculated jab at the Captain’s helmet. As he dodged she aimed another hit towards his new spot. He spun away, unscathed. Rex’s leg came up suddenly and knocked Dagger in the shoulder sending her back a few steps. She huffed and came at him again, he kept dodging and only rarely made a hit towards Dagger. 

She could barely make a hit but she kept taking them. Clones were cheering every time something happened. Dagger tripped on her foot and stumbled slightly. Rex took the opportunity while she was off balance to deliver a hard blow to the front of her helmet. 

“Ah!” came the noise involuntarily as her teeth came down hard on her lip. If she had been off balance before she was really off now. She fell hard on her ass and let out an oof. Before she had time to even think about getting up again the Captain came at her again. Planting his knee in her chest and slammed her into the ground. He was ready to finish the fight now.

With his knee pinning her down to the mat, he kneeled over her, “give up?”

“Never,” she wheezed. She shot her leg up and wrapped it around his neck pulling him backwards. He hadn’t expected the clone to be so flexible so the move caught him off guard. Falling backwards he found himself being choked by Dagger’s legs. With a blow to the thigh he twisted out of the hold and sprung back to his feet, Dagger quickly following. 

The brothers watching were going crazy, Captain was getting serious and the newbie wasn’t quitting. Usually fresh meat tapped out the first time the captain put ‘em down, not Dagger. Instead, she was fighting harder, hits going faster and, when they connected, were harder. 

She was doing really good too, until her arm shot out a bit too far on a missed hit. Rex quickly took advantage of her unprotected side. Stepping into the weakened outside defense he sent a hard blow to her ribs that knocked the air out of her. He spun around to dodge the arcing hit she had aimed in blind defense. He stayed behind her and no matter how fast she turned she couldn’t get face to face again. Rex grabbed her neck in a headlock and wouldn’t let go. He was pressed up against her back, one foot wrapped in front of hers so she couldn’t step forward without tripping. 

Dagger brought her elbow back repeatedly into his ribs to try to get him to let go. But he was too close, she couldn’t get any power behind the blows to make any impact under his armor. If anything it was causing her more pain because her arm plate had slipped and she was slamming her arm into his hard armor. 

Gasping for breath she struggled. He hissed in her ear, “tap out kid.”

Her vision was starting to swim and in a last ditch effort to get free she slammed her helmet back into his. The angle snapped his chin up suddenly causing him to fall back, but it wasn’t enough for him to let go of her. So she fell with him.

As she landed on top of him the air was knocked out of the Captain. His grip lightened slightly and she took in a gasp of air lurching forward. She didn’t make it all the way out of his grip. He recovered too quickly and wrapped his arms under her arms up and around the back of her neck effectively trapping her. He kneeled behind her, she squirmed, but there was nowhere she could go, nothing she could do. 

“I said, tap out kid,” he said again, patience growing thin. The newbie was putting up a good fight but there were other things that needed to be done. 

“No,” she almost whined. She may be losing terribly, but she was having fun. She wasn’t allowed to fight like this back on Kamino. It was fun to be able to use the skills that she had learned and apply them. Her nerves were tingling, muscles alive with excitement and adrenaline.

She heard the huff of air that he let out and she felt the tightness of his arms increase, her body was being lifted. Rex planted his feet and stood to his full height, bringing Dagger along with him and pulling her off the ground. She cried out as all of her weight was suspended painfully on her shoulders. Her feet dangled above the ground and she was helpless to do anything. The crowd that had been cheering a moment earlier went quiet. 

It went silent for two reasons, the first being the display of power that the Captain was showing by incapacitating any fight Dagger had left. The second was due to the trail of blood that was leaking out of the front of Dagger’s helmet, right out of the mouth vent. Gasps could be heard in the vacuum of noise that was the training room.

“Captain stop!” came the yell from the doorway.


	4. Chapter 4

"Captain stop!"

Rex immediately lowered Dagger until her feet made contact with the ground and released her. He knew right then that he had messed up. She stumbled away, falling to the ground and gasping for breath. Everyone whipped around to see General Skywalker standing in the entrance to the hangar. The spectators took that as their cue to rush out of the room via the far entrance. That tone of voice and Jedi Masters did not mix well and for once they did not want to stick around to see what happened.

Rex and Dagger snapped to attention as the Jedi approached the pair and asked them, "what the hell do you think you are doing?"

Rex had his mouth opened to respond when Dagger cut him off, voice slightly raspy, "its my fault sir, I challenged him to a fight. We got carried away. I'm sorry sir."

The Jedi looked over them, "carried away seems to be putting it mildly. When you are outmatched you are supposed to surrender. Not let your Captain beat you to the point of bleeding. And you, Captain, I expect you to have more self restraint, being a superior and an officer means that you are to be in control of your actions and not let things get carried away. You currently have full control over the training of your unit. However, if I see that you are mistreating others then you will not have such freedoms. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir," was Rex's immediate response, "I accept responsibility for my actions and it will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't," he said before turning on his heel and leaving them in the empty room.

Rex waited until the Jedi was well out the door before turning to Dagger, "are you ok?"

She nodded, "I didn't mean to get you in trouble Captain, I just wanted to win."

He chuckled, "don't we all. It'll be ok. If you are hurt next time just tell me before the General has to come in and chew us out. And don't be so damn stubborn kid."

She laughed with him briefly before asking, "am I actually bleeding, sir?"

"Yeah, right out of the mouthpiece," he said gesturing to the spot on his own helmet, "go wash up and see the medics if you need it."

She nodded and swiftly exited the room, she decided against the medics. She wasn't in pain, she had just bit her lip and it bled like crazy. No way was she going to the medics with a face wound. That was out of the question.

Dagger was gone Rex lifted off his helmet and ran his hands down his sweaty had escalated more than he had anticipated. He didn't think that the general was actually that mad, but he also knew that he wasn't kidding about taking away the freedom of his training. He was proud of the fights that Dagger had put up. He hadn't given up, that was a good trait in a soldier.

As long as it didn't get him in trouble for not surrendering when he was clearly outmatched. Rex would need to watch Dagger closely, he could get himself hurt in situations like that if he refused to give up when he clearly should.

Maybe he had gone a bit hard on the fight. He had gotten carried away, in the process of proving that he could win. Rex knew his leadership wasn't in question but something about a new recruit fighting with such an intensity was new and he felt like it was necessary to crush him in defeat.

Wow. When he thinks it in his head like that it sounds crazy. Something to work on then, he wondered what it was about the new blood that had caused that. It had never happened before when anyone else had joined. Even when the unit smart ass joined.

Echo had been a riot when he arrived. He had quickly gone from reg reading clone to a more laid back jokester. Cracking jokes at the wrong time or sassing back to the wrong person. When he mouthed off to the visiting Jedi Krell, oh boy, that was not a good day. Echo had now found a balance between the two personalities. That kid knew those manuals inside and out, if Rex asked him what was in Chapter 15 in Manual 10 he would be given a detailed summary no doubt.

But Dagger was a whole different problem set, first there was the helmet that he said he wouldn't be taking off. Then there was the quiet part, he had a tendency to not say anything more often than he chose to say something. It made it hard to know what the brother was thinking, but it wasn't necessarily an issue. So slow to speak but also quick to act.

Then there was the height and age thing. He hadn't understood why Kamino had let him out so early, then they fought and he was starting to get a better idea of why. Dagger was more skilled than most infantry clones were coming out of training. He obviously had special training.

Rex wondered if Dagger had been tasked to specialize like he had and had failed out, it didn't happen often but sometimes it did. Those failed specialists or officer candidates were usually top performing infantrymen. If he had been disqualified because of some sort of accident it may explain why he kept the helmet on, a bad scar or deformation perhaps.

Either way it was in the past and they couldn't change that now, the only thing was that Dagger was so small. He truly hadn't meant to throw him across the room. It just happened by accident. Dagger was a good deal lighter than most clones were and Rex had been using enough force as he would for a full sized brother. He would have to be wary of that in the future. Also it may be prudent to not pair with Dagger again, even though there didn't seem to be any negative repercussions or feelings.

Perhaps he would assign Dagger a mentor, someone to train with, to ask questions, help him get to know the unit better. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone watch over Dagger. He knew just the brother for the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for everyone who has read this far. I know updates aren't that consistent, but I am trying to update every few days. I hope everyone is enjoying the story. If you have time I would really appreciate comments on what you think of the story and the characters so far. Have a lovely day everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you sure Captain? I would love to!" was the excited reply that Echo gave when Rex told him what he wanted from him. The brother was practically buzzing with excitement, smiling from ear to ear.

Rex responded with a nod, Echo would be a good battle buddy. He was loyal to a fault and knew all of the regs forward and backward. Also, he was new enough to still relate to Dagger for being the newest in the unit. He was high energy enough to counter Dagger's quietness and he could definitely talk enough for the both of them. The only thing he wasn't so sure about was Dagger getting overwhelmed by Echo. He'd figure it out and be ok once he got used to the brother.

Before Rex could even tell him to do anything Echo took off down the hall yelling back that he was going to find his new battle buddy. Rex shook his head, he was sure that Fives, Echo's old battle buddy would understand the switch.

"Captain Rex, may I have a word with you for a moment," came the calm and smooth voice, sliding from around the corner. General Skywalker.

The clone stiffened to a respectful posture, "of course sir."

"I'm sure you already know what I am here to talk to you about."

"Yes sir, I would like to apologize for my actions to you. I have already spoken to Dagger about it," Rex replied.

"Good. What happened then Captain? You are always so composed this is an odd occurrence for you. Even when you and your men spar it never goes this far." the Jedi said.

"I agree sir, it usually never happens like this. It's just this brother that has me confused. He was released from Kamino early and yet is far more skilled than the usual new recruit. I was not expecting such a fight and I got carried away trying to win. I will accept the repercussions for my actions General," he explained.

Anakin nodded, thinking for a moment. When he finally decided to speak he said, "I don't think it was serious enough to have repercussions, but I'm sure you understand my presence earlier. I'm just not used to seeing you strangling a subordinate."

Rex nodded, wincing under his helmet, and the man continued, "please keep me updated on anything and as always if you need anything that I can provide do not hesitate to ask. We have a week or so of patrol left until we are to be assigned an on world mission. Get your unit ready."

"Yes sir," was the sharp answer. The Jedi walked away, so smoothly that it looked as if he was floating. That could have gone a lot worse. He wasn't expecting anything terrible, it was General Skywalker after all, but he still was worried that he would be sent to evaluations for aggression among his peers. He would do his best to get the unit ready to the best of their abilities before they were sent on a mission again.

There were always rifts that were formed when new blood joined the unit. Little cracks until everyone got to know each other. And dammit if it wasn't always the quiet ones who got into trouble.

It was unsettling, even more so when you can't see his face. It makes there be polar opposite personalities in the unit. The high end of the energy spectrum, always talking, sharing, and being hyper would be Echo and by far the quietest and most reserved brother he has ever met being Dagger. This would be interesting.

That night at dinner Dagger came in late and sat with the unit holding only an apple. Echo was by his side still talking about whatever he had just shown the newbie. Echo had immediately latched onto Dagger and was showing him around everywhere on the ship. He would talk about past missions and answer off of his questions. Echo was proud to be able to help one of his brothers become more a part of the unit. He was happy that his Captain had trusted him to do the task and he wouldn't let him down.

Rex watched as Dagger slowly rolled the apple between his hands, helmet still on. That wasn't conducive to eating. He was starting to see an issue with the new kid. He would have to get that helmet off him so he didn't starve to death. If he straight up ordered him to take it off he would be ruining any respect Dagger had for him.

Alienating a brother in front of the unit by making him do something he didn't want to do was not the way Rex did things. That's not the type of leader he was. When he ordered someone to do something it was for a mission or for something important. While this was important Dagger would have to take the helmet off of his own accord. Rex trusted his brothers and even though he was new he trusted Dagger to make the right decisions.

But how could he make sure he was getting enough food if he couldn't eat in the dining hall that was never empty? Kid was small enough as it was. He didn't need to cut any weight due to poor nutrition on top of it all. Resisting the urge to growl in frustration he got up and grabbed another plate. He went through the line and piled a plate up with food.

He walked by the table towards the door calling Dagger's name and signalling him to follow him. When they got through the door, he handed Dagger the plate, "go down this hallway, take a left and it's the second door on the right. Meet back in the barracks after."

Dagger tilted his head in slight confusion, but took the plate in understanding and let out a quiet, "thank you sir."

Rex watched as Dagger disappeared down the hallway, then he finally let out the sigh that he had been holding in. He had seen the type before, Dagger would have never asked for special attention or permission to go elsewhere. He would have just suffered in silence.

Rex didn't like making special exceptions for brothers, then the rest of the unit got the wrong idea. He figured everyone would understand, no one seemed to mind Dagger keeping his helmet on much anyway. If they had someone would have pinned him and taken the helmet by now.

Dagger walked quickly down the hall, going to the exact room that the Captain had given her directions to. She found that it was an office. The plate next to it was kind of smashed. It used to say something that she couldn't read but now there was a piece of paper that said "Cpt. Rex's Office."

Oh. He was letting her eat in his own office. Wow, she hadn't ever been in an officer's office before. She felt bad for being a problem that he had to send away to eat, but she knew that it was for the best and she was very thankful.

If she didn't eat it would become a bigger problem. She didn't want to pass out because then they would take off her helmet and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Dagger knew she wouldn't be able to survive on the fruits that she was sneaking every meal. But it hadn't become a problem yet so she wasn't that worried about it, hadn't thought about what to do when it did become a problem.

She sat and quickly tucked into the food on her plate. Everything smelled so much better when it wasn't coming through the mouth plate in her helmet. The filters worked as a gas mask and kept out airborne toxins but it also did a good job of keeping out almost all smells.

Sat in the visitor chair, she looked around the room. There weren't a lot of decorations, but a few medals in their cases. The desk was clean, metal surface clear aside from the screen and a tablet. There were a few file drawers with various labels on them. She wondered if he had her file in here, had he read it? How much did the Kaminoans put in it? She had no idea who all knew about her and who all had access to that information.

So far, she knew that the Jedi knew who she was. They could sense it with their force magic or whatever. She also knew that her General, Skywalker, had an apprentice, but she hadn't met her yet. Did the other commander's know? Did her Captain? She could easily look in his files and see her file.

Yet she knew that she never would. She had to much respect to go through another's things. Especially not her Captain's things. He was her superior, but more than that he was tolerant of her. He hadn't ordered her to take off her helmet and for that she was grateful.

As soon as she finished she gathered her tray and took one last look around the room. With her helmet secured on her head she left the room walking back to the dining hall to drop off the tray before heading back to the barracks.

She flinched as she walked in, there was a lot of skin and she was not prepared. Brothers were walking in and out of the shower room at the back of the barracks without a care in the world. Dagger kept her eyes down even from under her helmet and tried to walk as quickly as she could go back to her bunk.

This worked well until someone walked right in front of her and she got mooned. Oh no. She felt bad for having seen that, I mean they were all the same anyway but still. Her cheeks were red and she was grateful twenty times over that she had her helmet.

Back on Kamino they had never let her see any of the males undressed, obviously. This was quite the rude awakening. Why didn't they prepare her for this?! She had never seen so much skin in her life, she felt like a scandalized human woman. Well, she was a human woman, but you get what she means. She climbed up on her bunk and laid on her back staring vigilantly up at the ceiling. There was nothing she could see there. Oh god why did they have to shower now?

"Dagger, glad to see you made it back" came the voice from her left. She didn't have to turn to see that it was the captain sitting on his own bunk typing up reports on his tablet. She had seen him in her peripherals earlier. He, at least, was wearing clothes.

"Yes sir. Can I ask a question?"

"Of course," he responded.

"Do they always shower like this?"

He looked around briefly then laughed, "yeah pretty much. We all are very comfortable around each other as you can tell. You'll get used to it eventually."

She nodded, not caring whether or not he saw her response, he was busy on the tablet anyway. Everyone was hollering across the room and just causing general mayhem. It would have been more amusing if they had clothes on but that's what she gets. Couldn't have made it easy on her could they?

Her mind went back to the day she had just had and she smiled. She got to be with her brothers. Fighting and having fun, sure they got yelled at, but that's ok. Back on Kamino they didn't let her be with her brothers. The madam that oversaw her training always told her that she needed to hide for identity. She didn't trust the clones, even though they were her creations.

The madam told her that men were unpredictable when faced with something they didn't understand. She thought that Dagger's gender would have an adverse effect on the unit she was assigned to. Dagger had been raised in secret, trained specially to give her skills to make up for anything she lacked.

Now that she was in the unit she didn't know if these brothers would hate her if they knew what kind of mistake she was. A glitch in the machine. She didn't know what they would think if they found out that she lied to them. Dagger had decided long ago that she would never tell anyone that she was a female, everything else would just have to work out around that. Even if it was at the cost of her own comfort she thought as she felt her bruised lip tingle. It had been a good fight and perhaps she should have gone to the medbay. She wouldn't do it, not for a small injury.

Suddenly her bed frame was rattled by someone on the ground. She didn't look, she could already guess who it was. Her suspicions were confirmed when the suspect began speaking. Who else but Echo, "you gonna shower or not, ya nasty?"

"I'll shower later," she responded, really not wanting to look at him.

"Yeah it is kinda crowded now, so where did you go at dinner? Are you not gonna eat with us?" He asked.

"Leave him alone Echo, he's gonna eat somewhere else for the time being," Rex answered, saving her from having to respond.

"Awww but Captain, I missed my battle buddy," he whined.

Dagger raised an eyebrow at 'battle buddy' but didn't comment. She just shrugged and assumed she would be spending a lot of time with Echo.

"Go to bed Echo," he said, leaving little room for argument.

"Fine."


	6. Chapter 6

It was a few hours later, when everyone was sound asleep, soft snores coming from around the room. Dagger finally rose from her bed. She silently dropped to the floor absorbing the sound with a soft landing on her toes. She snuck out and headed to the gym. She figured there wasn't enough time to sleep when she had so much improvement to do. Maybe if she could gain more muscle mass they might not notice her size as much.

She had stopped growing at seven, so she wasn't going to be getting any taller. They had given her a lot of special training and one on one attention as she grew up so she had to learn a lot faster than the others. This meant that she wasn't allowed to be with the other clones while she trained so she didn't have much interaction with them or know how to navigate the interaction with her brothers as much.

However, that didn't mean that she couldn't try to still improve her physique. She felt so small in comparison to everyone here. She got to the abandoned gym and stripped out of her armor into her work out clothes.

Looking at herself in the mirror she saw bruises starting to form on her shoulders and the back of her neck from the fight with the captain earlier. She smiled, it was a good fight if it left marks.

Even with her helmet she would have to be careful about the shirt she wore the next week so that way they wouldn't see it. The Captain didn't need to know that he had bruised the new guy, she was already getting special treatment for eating. She didn't need to be sent to the med bay too.

Her neck hurt but she finally pulled off her helmet, feeling the cool air on her face was nice, she pulled the hood of her workout jacket over her head in case anyone walked by, even though she knew that no one would be awake at this hour. She started doing some warm up stretches before going through sets of weights. Working out all of the muscle groups for over an hour before her muscles were burning with lactic acid.

When she was finally satisfied with her workout she went to the single shower that was in the gym. She guessed it was just there for someone who got too messy to go all the way back to the barracks to shower. She wasn't going to complain.

Dagger was quick in the shower, getting what she needed to be done in an efficient manner, she didn't look down at her body. Especially not after seeing the bodies of her brothers. She was ashamed that she couldn't look like them. All she wanted was to be like them, to fit in. To be a brother and not some outcast. If they ever found out they wouldn't ever talk to her again, especially not after lying to them.

She scrubbed the front of her helmet, ridding the armor of the red stain of her blood. Soon enough it was shiney and white again.

She snuck back into the barracks and climbed up to her bunk. Her helmet was secure on her head. When the metal bed frame squeaked she froze, worried she had woken the Commander who shared the bottom bunk under hers. If he was awake she sure couldn't tell because he didn't move an inch. She didn't need anyone finding out that she had snuck out at night to go train. Certainly not the commander.

She laid down looking up at the dark ceiling a few feet above her. She started making a list in her head of the things she needed to do and be aware of for the next day, week, and extended period of time. Dagger did this until she fell asleep. In some way it calmed her down, the organization of her normally pretty scattered thoughts. She felt in control and it soothed her to sleep.

The next morning she woke up as her bunk shook subtly as the commander quietly stood. She sat up quickly, startled even by the quiet sound. He turned to look at her as she sat up so fast.

"The helmet? Even at night, kid? I hope you learn to lighten up eventually," he said with a sigh.

"Doubtful sir," she responded with a whisper. She had woken up so fast her heart was pounding, being startled awake by another was not something she was used to and it had sent her adrenaline sky high.

He didn't respond, just continued on his way to the door where he flicked on the light switch. Unlike the Captain the day before he did not start yelling to wake everyone up, letting them all wake up with the light.

Everyone started to rise, there were multiple groans of brothers complaining about not wanting to wake up. Dagger stood and started putting on her armor along with the rest of them. She was glad they wore it around on the ship, it made everything more convenient.

The walk to the mess hall was a quiet one for her, she let everyone else do the talking as usual. Always observing, always analyzing, being sure that she could keep her secret that way. She made sure of it while also looking for the best way to fit into the unit.

Everyone had a role, a part to fulfill, a little niche. She was just trying to find hers. Rex and Cody were obviously the leaders. Echo seemed to be the level headed friendly one. Fives was the counterpart to Echo but more impulsive. He was a bit more chaotic.

Right now Dagger was just the Rookie, the mentee. Everyone was teaching her in their own ways, meaning she got more attention. She would have to try and learn fast so they could move on.

Perhaps training today would be a good way to show her skills and that she didn't need too much mentoring. Then they could relax a little, once they saw that she was more competent than they thought she was right now.

She grabbed a plate and filled it with food. After passing through the line she stood closer to Rex looking at him with intent. It kinda spooked him the way the newest recruit was just silently staring at him. He hadn't made any noise to announce his presence and Rex hadn't heard him approach. None the less he nodded his head to the door and Dagger left quickly.

The space where Dagger had just stood was now occupied by Echo, his helmet off and his face concerned, "Sir? Is Dagger ok? Why doesn't he eat with us?"

Rex rested a hand on Echo's shoulder, "he's ok. Sometimes things don't make sense, but Dagger isn't comfortable around the unit yet. So if he eats on his own he will probably feel better, he wasn't eating when he was sitting with us. Can't have your buddy starve can we?"

Echo nodded, " I guess you are right, I was just wondering cause the regs said that everyone should eat together."

Rex smiled, "regs don't answer everything Echo. You'll learn that soon enough." What he didn't add was that he would be learning it awful quick with Dagger around.

Dagger met them in the gun room of the ship, it was time for blaster practice. Everyone was suited up and before they went into the range they had their blasters checked by the ordinance officer.

Dagger was the last one in the line, Rex's orders, he would be evaluating her skills with the blaster and determining what she would need to catch up to the rest of the unit if it was necessary to do so. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, as if her blaster skills were anything less than perfect. She had scored perfect marks on her past three blaster tests back on Kamino, she would do the same here.

They all lined up in their respective stalls with the targets all set up down range. Everyone was ready to begin but awaited orders from the Captain. They ran different drills and exercises on different days.

"Alright everyone, we are gonna run accuracy tests today," Rex stated, "I'll be picking out points on the targets and we will see who hits each point best. Three shots per round so make them count. This will be to simulate a near empty magazine in the field. We are gonna do this competition style today. So after the first set of rounds for practice I'm going to eliminate the worst shooter in the category. Make sense?"

They all nodded in agreement, then they fell into their firing stances. When the captain called out spots they would open fire and their cluster score would appear on the screen above their stall. It would factor in which target they were aiming for and how close each of the rounds came to hitting it dead on and how close they were to each other.

Then on a big monitor behind them they were ranked one through thirty two by the numbers that corresponded to where they were standing. No one paid much attention to those right now. It was warm up time, they were still getting into the swing of things.

No one started off perfect, no matter how experienced the first few always took at least a little bit of adjustment. Blasters were just like that, but it didn't take long for everyone to be hitting or very nearly hitting the spot on the target.

Once everyone had fired their three shots, Rex would call reset and they would mimic changing out the magazine. Repetition of movement to get it ingrained in their heads, if they knew how to do it by muscle memory they would be able to worry about other things if they had to do so under fire. Then he would call another point on the target and the whole thing would start again.

This lasted twenty minutes until he called everyone to a stop. They were to get fresh magazines for their blasters and start recharging the old ones. Once that was complete they would start their little competition.

While they had all practiced Rex had taken the time to put all of their names in for the stalls so that they could see more clearly on the leader board who was winning. They all lined up again, calling out playful trash talk about how they were going to win.

"You ready newbie?" asked the brother to Dagger's left.

She nodded, "I am, and the name is Dagger."

"Aight cool, I'm Cricket. You can look for the name at the top of the leader board, don't take it too hard when you lose. All of the newbies lose in the beginning," he said with a laugh.

She let out a soft scoff, not bothering to respond. She knew she could do better and she didn't need cheap words if she could show it by beating him. She wasn't like the other new recruits that they had in the past.

She would show them that she was good at her job, she would have to win or at least get very close to doing so. It was hard because she didn't know exactly how good everyone here was. Back on Kamino her accuracy rivaled all of the other trainees, but out here in the real world everything was different. They were hardened brothers, they had been in the battles and seen the war. They had more experience and skills than she could hope to have at this point. She would still do her best no matter what.

Now it was time for the competition.


	7. Chapter 7

While they had been warming up Rex had been watching Dagger closely. He scrutinized his form and his aim. Overall he was impressed with how consistently accurate he was. It didn't look like he would need additional training to catch up to the standards he set for his unit. For that he was glad, they didn't have much time left before the next mission.

He scanned over Dagger's body, eyes sharp. He took in the way he stood, the quick movements and small adjustments each time he fired. With a small smile in the corner of his mouth he looked over the shiny's armor. He liked the way he had decorated his armor, the blue of the 501st stood out proudly on the white armor.

Then something caught his attention, peaking out of his undershirt at the nape of his neck. A bloom of purple and red, barely visible from his under shirt. Rex frowned. The mark could only be a bruise and there was only one way that he could have gotten it. He didn't think that he had hurt him that badly, but he would need to talk to Dagger again after training. While Rex had never explicitly told Dagger to go to the medics he had assumed the man would anyway. For now there were things to do, he could not worry about it now.

They all waited for Rex to call out the target they were to aim for. Rex barked out a spot everyone would start firing a fraction of a second later, fast and efficient. Everyone hit the target, but how well they did was different for all of them. They only had one shot this time.

The closer to the center and the faster they shot was put into the score that the computer made, it was a cumulative point system where you could move up or down the ranks with every shot. After the first shot everyone turned back around and looked to see where on the scoreboard. Fives was the top shooter then there were a few more people in at number five was Dagger.

Damn, she cursed in her head. She had to be quicker and get a better shot, she knew she could. All she wanted was to show them that she could be a good soldier, just like them. They all were in their ready position, eager to go again.

Rex blurted out another number quickly and without warning. She fired, better this time. This went on for a few more rounds and every once in a while the rankings were changed up Echo would take Fives' place, Dagger moved up one or Cricket moved down one.

He wasn't too happy about that, Dagger felt the smirk on her face growing with her confidence she was in third place now the only ones above her was Hardcase and Fives. She could feel eyes watching her, she squared her shoulders, determined to make a good impression.

Echo, who is on the other side of the room, called out her name, "Dagger I can't believe you're catching up."

She just smiled from underneath her helmet, he didn't seem to be mad about it, he was just playing around. It was the final round and everyone who had been eliminated was watching the top three about to compete. Every two rounds someone had been taken out of the competition. The last person on the scoreboard was eliminated and it went from 30 to 20 to 10 to 5 to 3.

Echo, Dagger, Fives, one round left they were all within decimals of points behind each other their scores were near perfect. Hardcase had not been happy about being beaten in the last round. Honestly that shot had just been luck.

Now, one move could win or lose it all.

Dagger took a deep breath to calm herself down. She was nervous and her spirit wanted to win. They were bred to win after all, she had to calm down and focus.

It was just a training exercise, not the end of the world. She shook her hands up and looked to her right to see her opponents. Fives smirked cooly, he had been the company's best shot for a while now. Echo was smiling like a maniac, always one for a good competition.

The trio was neck and neck. Fives was in first place, Dagger was in third with Echo in between. They were the last ones left, this was the final shot. She set her jaw in concentration.

Rex announced their target. Her vision seemed to narrow as time slowed. Everything was focused, turning and grabbing her blaster from where it sat on the counter. In just a blink, it was leveled at the target and the trigger was pulled.

Her tension diffused as the beam of energy was released, everything was over now. She closed her eyes, not really wanting to see how she placed, after she had taken her shot her heart sank. It wasn't fast enough, she had pulled the trigger after the other two. She had to look though.

The scoreboard. It read first place Fives, second place Echo, and third place Dagger. She had lost. Inside a small part of her felt sad and disheartened. It should have been expected, after all, they were more experienced.

Nonetheless she congratulated her teammates, they both congratulated her in return. However, Echo was jumping up and down at that point. He was so excited that he got second place. Fives was laughing at him.

Then, Echo turned his excitement to Dagger, "oh my gosh! I can't believe my buddy got third place! You're amazing! I can't believe that Cricket lost. HA! Where are your awesome skills you always brag about now?"

Dagger tried to calm him down holding out her hands as if to wrangle him in. She wasn't able to keep the laughter from her voice "shut up Echo."

Dagger cracked a small smile, it wasn't so bad after all, no one was making fun of her for not winning. She was waiting for the ball to drop, for the lecture to begin. Every time she had not performed well enough in training they would yell at her. The madam always scowled so deep when she hadn't done as well as asked. She had told Dagger that if she couldn't be as good as her brothers that she would be decommissioned. A clone who can't keep up is of no use to the Republic.

Rex interrupted their festivities and her thoughts by calling everyone's attention "All right everybody, to the weapons room."

They all moved to the weapons room and started cleaning their guns while he gave the debrief of the training. He talked about how they could improve their skills and what went wrong and what went right. She stiffened at the former, but no yelling ever came.

Then other things they could do such as they needed to tighten up the grouping of their shots and get faster reloading your magazines. They had to be mission ready. Everything needed to be perfect and if it wasn't there was a good chance someone wasn't going to make it back from the mission, whatever it may be.

Dagger methodically cleaned every little spot of grime on her blaster. She was in a trance, between cleaning her weapon and listening to Rex's brief she was basically on autopilot. Why was he not yelling at her? Or everyone who had placed below her? He didn't even seem a little upset. Captain Rex seemed… Proud?

He even congratulated everyone on doing a good job on their blaster practice, they were doing well. Because they still had some time on patrol he said they had free time for a while, training would resume that afternoon. For now they were on their own.

Oh. Yay. More time for her to not know what to do. Dagger slipped out of the weapons room with the would probably go to the common room for a little bit so that way she wouldn't just disappear, then after a while she could slip away and get some training in.

Maybe she could get her workout in before night, but it might be risky if she wanted to workout without her helmet. Or she would just endure the sweaty helmet head she would get from it and wash her helmet and armor later.

Echo would be an issue, he was always popping up on her. Always curious about what she was doing, she wondered why he was always around. He did always call her battle buddy. But he was never mean to her or made fun of her helmet. He also was really good at his job from what she has seen so far. Maybe she would even ask him to help give her some extra training. If she can't get rid of him maybe he could help her get better.

She knew she wasn't terrible or anything right now but she didn't want to be the weak link of the unit. Maybe she could find a friend in Echo, maybe she actually wanted a friend.

The thought stopped her as she was walking with the group towards the common room. She hadn't ever felt the need to have a friend before. Not as if she had ever had the option. She didn't know how to feel about it, if Echo ever found out that she had lied to him... She didn't want to think about it, she would lose someone close to her if she allowed him to get too close.

As the group was about to go into the common room, Echo turned to say something to Dagger and realized she wasn't with them. He frowned, that brother seemed to always be disappearing or slipping away.

Not today Dagger he thought, he started to walk back along the path that they had taken. He was determined to find Dagger and get him to at least come hang out with the unit.

He found Dagger standing in the middle of the hall, not doing much of anything. Echo called out to him but didn't get a response. He only realized he was even there once he waved his hand in front of Dagger's face. Then he snapped out of whatever mind trap he was in and looked up at Echo.

"Hey kiddo, just came to find you. I know you don't like us all that much but I think if you give us the chance we will grow on ya," he said herding Dagger forward.

"I like you guys just fine," she argued, confused why he had said such a thing.

Echo let out a short laugh, "you don't act that way. Always avoiding us and not talking much."

She frowned under her helmet, "I don't want anyone to think I'm ignoring them, I'm just not good at talking with you guys, with anyone."

Echo thought for a moment, "How did you get by on Kamino? Listen, you don't have to talk to hang out with us. You can be our honorary DJ, we have a radio that we listen to music on and usually we just have someone go and control it for the day. You can choose the songs if you want."

She nodded her agreement, that sounded nice. When they entered the common room it was filled with brothers, almost all from her own unit. Everyone was milling about, laughing and talking. Dagger didn't know what to do with herself.

They weren't training, or doing anything specific so there were no rules or guidelines to help her navigate the situation. Echo moved past her to a mostly empty table along the edge of the room where there was a radio with a deep space antenna sitting on the table.

He took a seat and Dagger followed suit across the table. She tapped the touchpad on the radio and it lit up, she scrolled through the songs for a few seconds before choosing a song that she recognized.

The radio crackled to life and the upbeat cantina music started playing, filling the room. There were a few shouts of excitement and someone clapped at the arrival of the music.

Dagger looked over at Echo. He nodded, "good choice, Dagger."

She nodded happily, glad that she had selected a song that they seemed to like. She listened to the music, quietly watching everyone in the room. There was a Holo-film playing in one corner, while there was some sort of simulation game being played.

She let the worry seep away and she enjoyed the company of her brothers. Dagger had a lot to get used to here. Nothing was the same as how it had been on Kamino.

While she sat in the common room, what she didn't realize is that someone had wanted to talk to her. Rex was sitting back in the weapons room, alone. He looked down at his comm for one second and Dagger had disappeared. Dammit.

He needed to ask about the bruising that he saw around Dagger's neck. He needed to confirm that he caused that. Rex needed to make sure he was ok and that it wasn't anything more than bruises.

Dagger seemed to be the stubborn type, he didn't trust the newest member of the unit to not hide injuries. The way he had taken a beating yesterday just proved how much he could take physically. While that was good for the field, if he let the problem get out of control Dagger was going to get himself seriously hurt.

As much as Rex wanted to track Dagger down and confront him right now, he had other things to do. He had looked down at his comm earlier because of a transmission from the General. He had already promised the 501st a few hours to relax. Hopefully Dagger would be able to keep himself out of trouble until he could talk to him about hiding injuries.

~~~~

Thank you for the reviews! I love every single one of them! I have decided I am going to TRY to update every three days. No promises on keeping this schedule, but it seems reasonable for now. I hope you have been enjoying the story so far!


	8. Chapter 8

Dagger looked around the common room to see what everyone was doing. At a table near the one that her and Echo were occupying there was an intense looking game of Holochess. When her gaze finally came back to Echo he was pulled out a few data pads and laid them out in front of him.

He looked back up and saw Dagger's slightly tilted head, "reg manuals. Want to study?"

"I didn't take you for a nerd," she said bluntly.

His mouth turned up at the comment, "and I didn't take you for a mindless bullet stopper."

She let out a breath of air, a sort of laugh. She nodded her head and took one of the reg tablets, opening up the screen and scrolling to the first information page. It read, HOW TO RESPOND TO MEDICAL EMERGENCIES IN COMBAT ZONES. She settled into her seat and began to read, checking on the radio every once in a while.

Even in the loud and semi-crowded common room Dagger found herself relaxing out of the strict guard she always kept when around any other living soul. As she looked over the reg tablet she started to nod her head to the jazzy upbeat music, her thoughts began to wander.

She needed to start training more, she wanted to be stronger for when they started going on missions, she didn't want to be a weak link to the unit. It was starting to dawn on her that it would be very hard for her to do some things like battle with organic life forms in close combat.

Clankers she could handle, but if she had to go hand to hand with something with a bigger brain who happened to be that much bigger than her she may be in for a nasty fight. She would have to start learning new and more advanced techniques.

That led her to another thought, when was she going to find enough alone time to practice and do all of the things that she needed while she had all of the training throughout the day. Any free time during the day, such as now she would want to spend with her unit. They were fun to watch, even if she didn't feel comfortable interacting as heavily with them yet. She sighed, still having no answer for when she could get in extra training time other than at night as she had the previous night.

Echo glanced up every once in a while from his reading of the reg manual in front of him. Most of the time it was to check up on Dagger or to watch his movements. It seemed subconscious, but now and again Dagger would reach over to the radio and turn up the song a single click of volume. He smiled lightly, those songs must have been ones that he liked.

For Echo, it was nice to see the new kid relaxing a bit, his shoulders and body language weren't so tense. That poor guy was going to give himself issues with how guarded he was. He was going to do something to change that Echo thought to himself.

Just as Dagger started to sink a bit further into his chair, there was a loud call from a brother near the door, "Officer on Deck!"

Great, there goes progress, Echo thought as all of them shot up from their various positions to attention. Captain Rex strode into the room, "unit workout will be in a half an hour. We are doing field prep in the main hangar."

The Captain's demeanor was rushed and even stressed, like he had received bad news. Echo let out a sigh and hoped that everything was ok, something had to be up with training being pushed up in the schedule. Last minute change in plans didn't occur often. They certainly didn't occur without a reason.

If Echo were a betting man he would say that the war needed the 501st back on the front lines and training had to be picked up at least for the day. He would bet it was for last minute performance checks.

Rex left the room and everyone started to pack up and head back to the barracks to get on their armor. Dagger and Echo made their way to the hangar. She was glad that they already had all of their armor on. It always took her a long time to put it on by herself.

Rex and Cody were setting up various obstacles and filling weighted backpacks for the coming practice. They both looked up as Dagger approached them, boots clunking softly on the duracrete.

"Good job at blaster practice today Dagger," the commander said.

She nodded in acknowledgement before asking, "is there anything I can do to help set up since I am early?"

The two officers shared a look and Rex said, "we are pretty much done here you might as well just start stretching while you wait for the others to arrive."

Rex fought with himself internally on whether or not there was enough time to talk to Dagger now. He waited too long and his decision was made for him. Soon enough the others did arrive and the open training court was filled with noise from the many soldiers talking and joking.

When the officers were finished with their set up, Rex hopped up onto a large crate and called for everyone to circle around him. He started briefing them on the obstacle course they were to complete. They had to do an equipment carry, a low crawl across a mat, go over different hurdles and cross high bars with their weighted packs.

While it wasn't a competition, they would be completing it in their buddy pairs and had to complete it in a certain amount of time to be able to effectively pass the obstacle course to meet the training objectives. It was meant to simulate different scenarios they would encounter in the field and challenges they may face.

With the brief and stretching done they lined up in their pairs to go through the course. Echo and Dagger were about third in line. Echo bounced on his feet in excitement while Dagger stood ramrod straight only clenching and unclenching her gloved hands every once in a while. They strapped on their packs and cinched them down to stay secure.

On the order to go they both took off like bullets, sprinting when they could and going through other parts as quickly as they could. The equipment carry and then the low crawl went by quickly. Their packs rustled with their movements. Both Echo and Dagger were huffing with slight excretion from the fast pace they had set.

They reached the hurdles and Dagger realized just how high up they were. They came up the bottom of her ribs while on Echo they only came up to his hips. She only paused for a moment before doing the only thing she could think of on the spot. She jumped up and flung herself at the obstacle. Hugging it she threw her leg over it and rolled over. Echo, who had been midway through getting over it in a more natural high step, immediately started laughing.

"Don't laugh at me!" Dagger hissed, but since she was running out of breath there was little bite behind her words which only made him laugh more. They went through the rest of the obstacles Dagger kept up as well as she could. It wasn't that she was slow, she just couldn't keep up with the obstacles that were taking longer for her to overcome.

The pair reached the high bars and Echo quickly jumped up and started swinging up the bars. The delay of having to wait for him to get ahead gave her enough time to get set up on the bars.

The high bars were in a pyramid style, much higher in the middle before sloping down again. He swung gracefully from bar to bar, trusting his arms and body to keep him safe. He had confidence in his strength, even with the weighted pack on his back.

Dagger hesitated only for a moment before she jumped up and grabbed the bar. She started the climb, her form was jerky and less sure.

She was sweating through her gloves and it was making her hands slip on the smooth metal bars. She was using brute strength alone to keep a hold of the smooth metal bars.

In her peripheral vision she saw Echo drop to the ground on the other side, he finished the course. She was near the top of the pyramid when she felt her hands slip beyond recovery. Dagger blindly reached for the next bar, it was too far away, she couldn't reach it in time.

All she had time to do was to quickly look to her partner and let out a clipped call, full of panic and worry, "ECHO!"


	9. Chapter 9

Echo's eyes widened as Dagger slipped from the high bars. He watched as his partner called out his name and plummeted from the highest point on the bars. All he could do was watch, stunned. He snapped out of it as fast as he could and rushed forward. Not fast enough, nothing could beat the speed of gravity. No matter how artificial it was. Dagger fell and hit the ground with a thud, lying still.

The gym was so silent that all of Torrent Company could hear Dagger's ragged breathing as she gasped for the breath that was desperately escaping her. Everyone was stunned. No one had ever fallen from the high bars before, quite frankly they never expected that anyone would.

Echo threw down his pack and skidded to his knees next to Dagger's side. He has never been more grateful for padded matts than in this moment. He scooped his partner into his arms so that way he was supported by Echo's legs instead of laying flat of the ground.

"Dagger, Dagger? Are you ok?" he asked desperately, voice betraying what he was feeling.

Dagger coughed but nodded her head quickly. A thumbs up was the response that he got. Echo ripped off his own helmet, tossing it nearby. He let out a nervous laugh at the immediate response from his brother.

He had quickly regained control of his emotions. Echo was not one to panic easily, he had better control than that. And yet he had never seen a brother fall like that before. Dagger was just so new, his battle buddy. It was his direct responsibility to make sure he stayed safe and learned their way.

Everyone was so busy watching the scene that they didn't notice Commander Cody leading Captain Rex aside to talk to him. Worry and distrust fueling his words. How could they trust an incompetent clone in the field. If nothing else this brother could very well get himself killed the moment he stepped into the field.

Rex assured him harshly that everything would be ok and that he had it handled. The conversation ended as quietly as it began, but the Commander still had his doubts of this newest addition to the unit that would not show his face.

Dagger choked as she tried to breath. All of the wind had been knocked out of her. She looked up at the ceiling trying to get her bearings. Fuck that had been a long drop.

Slowly her lungs began to fill with air again and all she wanted to do was tear the helmet off of her head. Echo's face came into her field of vision and she knew that it wasn't a possibility. She could see the worry in his eyes and tried to get out words to reassure him that she was ok, it only came out as a cough.

"It's ok, take your time Dagger. That was a rough tumble you took there," Echo said.

A grinning face came up, "ain't anyone ever tell you not to fall from high places?"

"I thought it was implied, Fives," she finally croaked back, "get off of me both of you."

She pushed them off and made to stand on her own. As she bore her full weight pain in her back flared up. The intensity of it made her knees buckle and she almost fell to the floor again if someone had not caught her.

She turned her head and saw Hardcase behind her, "I got ya kid. C'mon lets get you back to the barracks."

Nodding her appreciation, she let Echo take the pack from her back. The trio led her out of the hangar back to the barracks. She was grateful for their help, but embarrassed that she even needed it. How could she have been so stupid to fall like that? She should have been stronger.

Dagger stayed quiet the whole way back to the barracks, her back ached from where she had landed on her pack. She was lucky that nothing was broken, just bruised. Everyone they had left at the hangar was still training, they had things to do. This meant that the barracks were empty except for the four of them.

Hardcase pulled her along towards the back of the barracks. He grabbed something from the bottom of one of his drawers, she couldn't quite make out what it was. Then with a gruff grunt he shoved the mystery item and a canteen into her hands. Then he practically dragged her to the bathroom and shut the door behind her and latched the door.

Startled and confused, she looked around the bathroom. She was the only one in the large room. After a few seconds the door opened a crack and a pile of her clothes were set on the ground with a towel. Then the door closed again and she heard a thump, almost as if someone was sitting with their back to the door.

Which is exactly what was happening. Hardcase was being uncharacteristically quiet. Echo approached and asked, "Hardcase what are you doing?"

"Dagger had a rough fall, I figure it's only fair he gets to shower first," he responded as if it was obvious.

"So why are you sitting against the door?"

Hardcase nodded, as if it were obvious, "no one gets in until he is done."

From inside the bathroom Dagger listened to the whole conversation. She looked down to see that the object in her hand was a bottle of pain meds. Her lip wobbled slightly at the unexpected kindness from her brother. She had barely spoken to him and he was going above and beyond to help her.

Downing some of the meds she quickly stripped out of her armor, she trusted him to keep the other's out of the bathroom. She would be as quick as she could. As she bent over to undo the shin guards her back protested.

After straightening up she turned to look in the mirror. Earlier that day she had a few patchy bruises around her shoulders and a split lip from her sparr with Captain Rex. Now almost her entire back was blooming with red and purple bruises. No wonder it hurt so much to move. Dagger was glad to note that nothing felt sharp or out of place, just in pain from the impact.

Stepping into the warm spray of the shower she washed herself quickly. She even gave herself an extra minute to savor the warm water as it eased her aching muscles. Then she stepped out and dried off quickly.

Dagger couldn't hear much of the outside of the barracks, but she didn't want to keep anyone waiting if they wanted to shower after training and before dinner. As soon as she was dry she put on her clothing.

Securing her helmet on her head she knocked softly on the door. She heard shuffling and tested the nob, the door swung open easily and she saw Hardcase standing close by. Echo was sitting on Fives' bed, head down rubbing the back of his neck. Fives was nowhere to be seen. At the sound of Dagger reentering the barracks Echo looked up.

His eyes held a guilt that did not belong. She gave the meds back to Hardcase and thanked him quietly. He grunted in acknowledgement and retreated back to his bunk as she approached Echo. She sat next to him on the bed, close but not touching.

"What's wrong, Echo?" she asked.

He looked at her, "I let you fall. You are my partner and I couldn't help you today. Hell I was even laughing at you for being short!"

She rolled her eyes, "so what? You know how indestructible us clones are. I'm fine."

He let out a short laugh, and gave Dagger a soft push, "a safety hazard is what you are. Go get some sleep Dag, I'll wake you for dinner."

Echo watched as Dagger walked away and crawled into his bunk. He knew all too well that clones were not indestructible. He remembered every time he closed his eyes. Echo remembered every brother he had ever lost. Heavy, 99, all of them. If only he couldn have done more to save them.

He swore to himself then and there that he wouldn't make the same mistakes that he had in the past. He would protect his brothers, he would protect Dagger no matter the cost.

He stayed trapped in thought for a long while. Slowly the rest of the 501st started to trickle in after they had completed the training course. Usually, after a good day of training, everyone would come back sore but rowdy. They would be hollering and throwing things just for fun.

Today had not been a good training day, the barracks remained quiet. The sparse conversations were whispered. It was truly unnerving to see a brother fall, even if it was on the training course. They all trusted their bodies to do the job and to help their brothers.

Today no one had been able to help, they were just there to watch as their newest brother plummeted to the ground. They all knew it wasn't serious, they certainly didn't blame Dagger or think he was incompetent.

All of the unit had seen battle, most of them had lost a brother. It was all too easy to imagine losing Dagger too. Too easy to see him falling into a canyon, or some other unsurvivable abyss. Falling onto something much more sinister than a training mat in the hangar of the Resolute.

Everyone festered, moods grim and dark. Brothers would steal glances at the sleeping form on the top bunk near the door. Sleeping on his stomach, laid Dagger. They knew his back would be covered in bruises.

Rex swept through the door as the durasteel slid open. To say that he was seething was an understatement. The culmination of the day's events had really gotten to him. He roughly grabbed his things and headed to the shower hoping the cold water would calm his temper.

He didn't notice as troopers scampered out of his way as he stomped to the back of the barracks. Once inside he shucked off his armor in the locker room, he unceremoniously dumped it all on the floor.

Where had the day gone wrong? Oh, right about in the middle when General Skywalker told him that they were going planetside in a few short days rather than a week or two like he had been told. His mind had gone into overdrive about what training they still needed to complete.

Water ran down his back as he bowed his head into the stream. He had called Commander Cody immediately and they began to set up the course, one last practice to be sure everyone was ready.

He had even wondered as they set it up if the pyramid bars were necessary. A tactical situation similar to that was far and few between. If they had to get across places they would usually just use their grappling hook. Yet he kept it in the course.

He had gotten Dagger hurt, yet again. The thought grated through his mind. He sure hoped the trooper was as tough as he seemed. As tough as the exterior he portrayed. Kriff, he had been here for just days and got hurt twice.

Like it was nothing, Dagger had bounced back. Rex had seen how just seconds after the fall he was already giving Echo a thumbs up. Reassuring that he was ok. He could hear his breath hitch even from across the room, a sound that meant he was anything but ok.

He wanted to go and check for himself, but with the others who were surrounding him and Cody subtly pulling him away from the troops he did not.

Rex turned off the cool water, skin scalding with anger. Then there was what the commander had said. He didn't trust Dagger in the field, all because of one mistake. He knew just as well as Rex that missing a rung on the bars did not mean that Dagger was unfit for field missions.

He had more than proved himself in blaster training that morning and had performed well in the training course up until that point. And before during sparring training Dagger outperformed the standard for the newest troopers. Cody was being unfair and Rex knew it.

Dagger was a part of the 501st. His, not Cody's unit. With a growl he shook his head. He didn't need to be fighting his brother over this, it wasn't worth it.

He was putting on his clothes when he decided what he needed to do. He was going to check on Dagger, the epicenter of the worry in his gut.

Kriff, this was just as bad as when Cricket almost got a blaster shot to the head in the middle of training. Rex had been sick from the event for a week. If he had been a second slower shoving the tip of Kano's blaster to the ceiling he would never have forgiven himself. There was enough pain in the war, it didn't need to happen under his command.

Why did his unit have to be so problematic and get hurt so much? This thought drifted through his mind as he started to settle. Back at his bunk he looked up at Dagger's sleeping body. There is no way he could have been comfortable with his neck turned to the side like that, laying on his stomach.

He needed to go to the medbay. Coric or Kix would need to look at his back to make sure nothing was severely damaged or broken. He was so still that Rex almost worried that he wasn't breathing. His back rose and fell slightly as it filled with air.

Rex went to touch his shoulder to wake him. A throat was cleared to his right, hand hovering in the air, he stopped.

"Captain, if I may. I think it would be best if Dagger got some rest."

"Echo. He needs to go to the medbay," Rex said as he turned to his brother. He was surprised at the protective look in his eyes. Behind that wall, the need to protect his brother, there was an emotion.

Rex couldn't name what he saw, but he felt it too. Echo was shaken, trying to do what he could to help Dagger. He appreciated the sentiment but he didn't think it was right in this case.

Echo seemed to sense Rex's incoming argument when he responded, "Dagger is going to be ok. Already has some meds in him. Dagger should sleep, you can talk to him later. I promised to wake him for dinner."

The captain's brow furrowed together, "he already went to medbay?"

Echo blinked at him, his face an unreadable stone. He neglected to respond and Rex wanted to ground his eyes out in frustration.

"If he didn't go to see Coric where did he get the meds?" keeping drugs, even pain killers in the barracks was against the rules.

"Emergency stash sir," Echo said, he wouldn't throw Hardcase's name into this. The trigger happy trooper was good at looking after everyone including having a stash of medical supplies if someone was unwilling to go to the medbay and really needed something.

"Echo I swear if I find drugs during the next inspection it is going to be your hide," Rex growled, he could not deal with this today.

Echo was unaffected by the Captain's bad mood, or maybe it wasn't projecting as much as it felt like it was, "understood sir, I'll take full responsibility."

Always a protector of his brothers, shield when someone did something stupid. More times than not, when someone was going to get chewed out Echo would step in and take the brunt of it. Even when he had nothing to do with it. He was a good kid. Rex shook his head and left the barracks grabbing his data pad on his way out.

Echo deflated slightly, he realized that he had been puffing his chest. He was trying to get his Captain to listen to him and it actually had gone pretty well. He took one last look at Dagger's sleeping body before returning to what he was doing earlier. A single thought running through his head, clear as if he spoke it to Dagger himself. I will protect you.

Just to clarify I know sometimes Dagger is referred to as a 'he' even when not in dialogue, that is because it is one of the other's thoughts. I hope it isn't too confusing for anyone. I would love to know what you thought after this chapter. Any comments or questions are appreciated! See you soon for the next chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments and kudos! You guys make my day!


	10. Chapter 10

_A huff of air was released as she got up from the mat. A sigh of disappointment, Dagger knew that sound well. She lowered her head in shame. Her sparring partner was just so big and she still had so much growing to do._

_She didn't know how she was expected to beat the faceless partner. Yet the expectation was there nonetheless._

" _CT 19580, why have you been unable to surpass this training point?"_

_She didn't dare look up at the Madam who was speaking to her. She didn't know her name, even though she had been overseeing Dagger for her whole life. She told her that she didn't get to know her name, clones are not worthy to know her Kaminoan name. So she was the Madam._

_The long neck craned now to look Dagger in the face, "are you going to answer me?"_

" _Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am. I have been trying, I really have, I'm just not big enough to win yet."_

_The creature tisked, "it looks to me as if you aren't trying hard enough. Real troopers don't give up in fights. If you had learned that by now you wouldn't be so far behind."_

_Dagger's head hung lower, tears stung her eyes. Even though the Madam had no attachment to her, Dagger felt the need to please the one creature she saw everyday for most of her life. There was rarely anyone else who spoke to her, except for him._

_He was even more important than the Madam, yet she only saw him a few times every month or so. The Madam swept out of the room leaving Dagger alone._

_It had been a long day of training, her muscles ached and her heart was heavy. She had tried everything and she still couldn't win. She sank to her knees on the mat and the quiet of the empty room was broken by her soft sobs. Dagger had been holding in the tears for as long as she could, but alone she could let them out, just for a moment._

_The door opened again and boot steps approached her, the figure crouching low. She didn't even realize that they were there until a hand landed on her shoulder. On instinct she grounded the hand to her shoulder and lashed out with the other at the offender's face._

_Her fist was stopped by a gloved hand catching it. She gasped at the realization of who it was. He smiled down at her kindly, "don't cry verd'ika."_

" _Mr. Fett, why? Why are you here?" she asked through hiccuping breaths._

_He looked down at her, the little girl looking to be about the size of a human twelve year old. It made him sad to see her cry, she was the special one, he always checked on her training specifically._

" _You know that you don't need to call me that. Tell me why you are crying kotep runi?"_

" _What does that mean?" she asked, she had never heard those mando'a words before._

" _Brave soul, you have nothing to fear. You will learn all you need to know and you will grow strong. You have to be kotep runi. Everything will be ok, just wait and see…"_

She awoke with a gasp, throwing the blanket off her in a hurry as she sat up. Scanning the room quickly she determined that she was on her bunk. Relaxing marginally she laid back for a moment looking up at the ceiling.

Dagger hadn't dreamed in a long time, much less dreamed of Jango Fett. He was one of the only comforts to her long and isolated training. She was saddened at the memory, he was gone now.

Extricating herself from her mind and from her bed she climbed down. Scanning the barracks she realized that almost everyone was looking at her. Shifting uncomfortably she searched for Echo. He would know what was going on.

She strode over to him as soon as she spotted him, "Echo. Why is everyone staring at me?"

He straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall behind his bunk, having been one of the only ones to not see Dagger wake up. Everyone was starting to go about their business again, although the air remained thick with a quiet tension.

"Worry," he responded curtly.

"Why?" she asked, just as short.

He turned to look at her fully as she sat at the edge of his bed. His face incredulously studying her helmet. Even though she knew that he couldn't see through she was almost nervous that he could see her expression. His head tilted and his lips parted, he seemed to run though multiple thoughts before finally settling on what he wanted to say.

"We haven't seen a brother fall in a long time. You scared us today. Scared me. They are worried about whether you are ok."

"Is anyone mad?" she asked, her dream bringing her past failings to the forefront of her mind. She was just waiting to get chewed out for being insufficient.

Echo shook his head, "no, Captain was looking for you earlier, but I asked him to let you sleep. He didn't seem mad though."

Dagger almost trembled, Captain wanted to talk to her. She was getting kicked out for sure. Her stomach dropped, she had only been here for two days. Echo noticed Dagger's head and shoulders drooped down, like he was curling in on himself. He reached out and touched his shoulder, "hey are you ok?"

She nodded slightly, "he's going to send me back isn't he?"

"What?!" Echo gasped, how could he have even made a leap to that conclusion, "No! Dagger, you just fell off the obstacle course. Captain wanted to make sure you weren't hurt, he wouldn't send you back to Kamino."

She heard him, but the words didn't compute in her thick skull, "but I failed."

Echo barked out a laugh, "on one thing. If we all got sent back to Kamino for messing up on something so small, there wouldn't be an Army. Who told you that you would get sent away for messing up?"

Instead of answering she stood to leave. He sprung forward and grabbed Dagger's wrist, his grip was strong without being painful, his voice was soft, "hey, you aren't getting sent anywhere. I promise you that."

Dagger nodded and he released her grasp. She didn't know how Echo could promise such a thing but the conviction in his eyes made her believe it. She believed him.

Exiting the barracks, her stomach growled and she decided to go get food from the dining hall. She knew she would have to find the Captain soon, but she wanted to wait at least a little while so he hopefully would calm down from her failure.

What she didn't realize is that she would be seeing the Captain so soon. Looking back she should have realized that it was in fact his office, but at the time she was just hungry.

Dagger walked into the room where she had been allowed to eat alone. Never before had she been there when the Captain had actually occupied his office. This time he was though.

Rex looked up from the maps and data pads spread across his desk when the door opened. He was expecting Commander Tano to be honest, she had said she was going to come down at some point to go over the mission again. He certainly wasn't expecting to see Dagger standing in the doorway with a tray in his hand.

Oh.

"Dagger, good to see you up and about," wasn't great, but it was the first thing that Rex could get out.

"I'm sorry sir, I just assumed- 'cause this is where- umm. Yeah, ok. Good evening sir," she had no idea how to speak at that moment and turned to flee.

"Wait," Rex called. He had just been surprised at Dagger's appearance, but he knew that this would be a good opportunity to talk to him in private. His brow furrows when he sees Dagger's shoulders curl up and in ever so slightly. In defense?

"Please come in," he tried to say gently as to not startle the retreating trooper.

He seemed to droop lower at the statement but did turn and come into the office. The door slipped closed behind him and closed them off from the rest of the ship. Dagger did everything she could to not flinch at the sound of the dior latching closed. She was still to riled up from her injury and dream to be able to think at 100 percent capacity.

She stood there for a while, watching Captain Rex. While she analyzed his form for any sign of anger she was surprised to not find any, she only saw worry.

She didn't really know what to do or say. Luckily enough Rex spoke up, "sit, stay a minute then I can head out. I'm almost done here anyway."

"Sir I can't ask you to leave your office," she protested, but she sat.

"You didn't ask, and you need to eat," he said, there was little room for argument in his words.

"Captain, can I ask you a question."

He was surprised at the sudden change in conversation but nodded his head, "I am extremely appreciative that you haven't, but why don't you just order me to take off the helmet?"

Rex thought for a moment, studying the tense form of Dagger as he set the tray down on his side of the desk. The Captain took a breath and leaned back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest, "are you a spy?"

Dagger gasped, "NO! No sir, never!"

"Then I know what your face looks like. I know where you come from. I know who you are, a brother. I don't care what happened to you before and if you want to keep your helmet on that is fine. It will only not be fine if you can't do your job properly."

He saw Dagger's head turn down at that, obviously thinking about the training exercise today. Rex continued anyway, "that high beam should never have been in that course. What is most important to me is that you and all of our brothers are safe and the missions get completed. Now that can't happen if you keep getting yourself hurt now can it?"

Dagger felt relief in his answer, but tilted her head in confusion, "keep, sir?"

He nodded, "you didn't tell me that I had hurt you in that sparr enough to leave bruises. Then today when you fell, I-"

His fists clenched from where they sat on the arm rests. Dagger mistook his worry for anger and shied away, just a fraction of an inch. Just enough that Rex noticed. Kriff.

"I'm sorry sir. I will do better, I promise. I didn't mean to fall today," she tried.

He held up a hand, "Dagger, I'm not angry. I'm worried. I knew that obstacle shouldn't have been in training today. Every time you have gotten hurt so far it has been my fault. It should be me apologizing to you. How is your back?"

Dagger hesitated, unsure of how to respond to that. Everytime she had gotten hurt or not performed properly on Kamino she had been scolded at the very least. Now her Captain was apologizing to her? What did she say to that?

"It's fine sir, nothing that I can't handle."

He let out a puff of air in a laugh, "so I've gathered. You are a tough kid, hard worker too. You need to go to medbay and let Kix take a look at your back."

The response was instantaneous. Dagger stiffened violently and even with the helmet, Rex could almost see a look of betrayal on the troopers face as he began to protest, "sir, it's fine. I already got some meds for it and nothing is broken. It won't slow down training, I promise. Please don't make me go to the medbay."

Rex sighed, great this shiny was one of those, "how can I trust that if you didn't even tell me about the bruising around your neck?"

Dagger looked down at her lap, she didn't have a good answer for that.

"Are you sure you are ok?" he asked gently.

She looked up but nodded.

He sighed again, "don't pout ok kid. I won't unleash Kix on you. But you gotta promise to tell me if you get hurt in the future ok?"

"I promise Captain."

With a nod he stood and left the room. Dagger just sat there, this was different. Everyone who was her superior on Kamino had behaved so differently. Rex seemed to care what happened to his men as much as what they could do. He cared whether or not they were hurt. This would certainly take some adjusting to get used to.

Mostly, she was thankful that he wasn't going to order her to take off her helmet. She would have thought for sure, but he didn't seem to mind and she wasn't going to push that subject.

Wow. She really had lucked out when being assigned to the 501st. She was starting to understand now what it was like to have brothers.


	11. Chapter 11

Echo smiled as he put on his helmet giving Dagger's a playful smack. She looked up at him and he could almost feel her annoyed look threw his helmet. They had finished packing their bags and putting on their armor.

Mission time, it was Dagger's first.

They were needed in the Outer Rim to take out a Separatist base that had been spotted by locals on a Republic controlled world. This planet was influential to the Republic as its tropical climate allowed for production of a surplus of food. This food helped feed many planets and the world needed to be kept out of Separatist hands.

So, Torrent Company and Ghost Company were sent. Their mission was clear. One team takes out the communication tower and one takes out the fortress. Stealth was key to this mission.

They all boarded the gunships together. The doors swung shut with a hiss to indicate that the air pressure was now locked in. As the gunship started to lift off, everyone grabbed their hand straps that were suspended from above.

Dagger grabbed hers as well, but what was an easy and secure reach for the others was a stretch for her. Her arm was completely extended and her feet coming up to stand on her toes ever so slightly. Echo didn't even notice that it was putting her off balance until they hit turbulence once they entered the planet's atmosphere.

Dagger was shifted too suddenly and her hand slipped. Before she could do anything she was falling backwards, once again she was falling with no way to catch herself. This time she didn't have to. She felt, and heard, the hard clack of armor on armor. Someone had reached out and grabbed her as she fell. She looked up and saw Captain Rex leaning over her, arm looped behind her back.

He helped her back to her feet, "you ok, Dagger?"

She nodded, now with her feet braced she looked back at the arm strap skeptically. Rex sighed and grabbed her hand. He placed it in the bent crook of his elbow that was holding on to his arm strap. It was lower and a more secure reach for her.

She felt her cheeks heat up and she was thankful once again for her helmet to conceal her face. Rex didn't think anything of it, always concerned with the safety of his brothers.

Dagger thought about it all too much. She was worried that the Captain thought she was incompetent, not even able to stand on the way to the air ship. They were jostled all the way down to the planet's surface. There was a lot of turbulence and Dagger kept a tight hold on her Captain's arm. If she were not holding on she would surely be sliding around the floor of the airship like a loose marble.

Echo's shoulders shook with laughter at Dagger's misfortune. He snickered into his helmet mic, "you good Dagger?"

"Hush Echo," she hissed back.

"Ooo, sassy," he replied but did fall silent.

Soon enough they landed on the planet. It was sunny, but rain threatened in the distance. They were to set up their base immediately, so up the tents went. Followed by the machines then the different fortifications.

It was almost nightfall by the time their base was set up. Soon enough it was tent city in the jungle. They ate their ration packs and listened to their briefing for the action plan on the planet for the next few days. Tomorrow they would scout out the Separatists and start the offensive attacks to drive out their droid armies. They should only be on the planet for a few days. Nothing too crazy, at least that was the hope.

Dagger didn't feel the eyes boring into her coming from the Commander who stood at the corner of the large tent.

This new clone, Dagger, showed up out of the blue on his own from Kamino. Picked a fight with the Captain, then outperformed most of the unit in blaster training. Then he performed terribly in the physical course, he tried hard sure, but still fell from the high bars. Cody questioned how well Dagger was qualified to be in the field yet.

The Captain seemed to think he was ready, but when it came to his brother's safety, Cody didn't trust the newest addition to the unit.

He knew that he was hiding something from them, that helmet that he never took off was just proof of that. He would find out what Dagger was hiding, he had to protect his shared unit. Cody's brothers were his life, he wouldn't let anyone hurt them, not even another brother.

~B~

After everyone was dismissed for the night the officers were called in for a strategy meeting with the Jedi. Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, Cody and Rex all stood around the holo-table to go over tomorrow's strategy.

They would split the units into two groups and they would attack the base and the communications tower simultaneously. If one went down and not the other then the Separatists would get wind of their attack and send back up. That was a little more heat than they were prepared to handle at the moment.

Rex would take his group and infiltrate the communication tower. Cut power to the building and then work through it to eliminate any droids inside.

Cody and his group would take the fortress. This was where the Separatists were storing stolen crops from the locals, they were stockpiling it in the center of the fortress until they could get it off world. It would be a slightly trickier plan to execute.

The fortress had new tech in it. Lots of automation and sensors, if there was an energy pulse from anything that wasn't a droid, say a blaster, the whole complex would light up and all droids would be notified of their presence.

Stealth was key, the unit needed to surround and be placed at key points within the fortress before using any blasters. Neutralizing threats without their main weapons would be tricky but Commander Cody was confident their men could handle it.

They went over strategy and plans for at least an hour. After it was settled they all left to get sleep before tomorrow. As he was leaving the tent Rex felt himself being pulled to a halt by a hand on his shoulder.

The captain turned to see General Skywalker standing there, "Rex, I know we didn't talk about it just now, but here are the lists of the two groups. The troopers are sorted based on skills and strengths."

Rex scanned the lists checking to see if everyone had been placed well. He frowned when he got to the bottom of his list and didn't see a certain name, "one thing General. This is Dagger's first mission, I feel it would be better if he was in the group taking the communications tower. Less risk for a rookie."

Skywalker arched and eyebrow, "you don't think Dagger is ready?"

"No sir, that is not what I meant."

"Dagger will be infiltrating the fortress tomorrow, I have assigned Echo and Fives to that group as well. They will watch each other's backs, I have no doubt in their abilities."

"Yes General," with the conversation clearly over Rex left the tent. It had finally started to rain outside, the made his way quickly to his and Cody's shared tent. He had been worried about the newest trooper being assigned to the other group, more droids and more risk. Usually the newest troops were the first ones to die.

It was awful, but it was the way this war worked. He didn't want to loose anyone, much less the newest. He would have felt better if he could have personally watched over all of his brothers, but he knew that Cody would do his job.

~B~

It was dark outside and all of the brothers were split into tents, four per tent in their squads next to each other. Dagger settled in with her tent buddies, she laid down on the tarp on the far left of the tent, Echo next, then Jesse and Dogma. Rain pattered lightly on the tarp that was secured over the tent.

They had their cold weather gear on, as the planet was due for a temperature drop tonight. Their armor all stacked neatly in piles. Jesse and Dogma fell asleep quickly, Dagger could hear their soft breaths through the cool night air.

She couldn't tell if Echo was asleep or not. She scooted to the edge of the tent, she didn't want to be too close to Echo in fear that he would find out what she was. She knew she was acting paranoid, but it was hard to change her ways, she had never slept this close to another living soul in her life.

The minutes passed, the air got colder and colder. The ground, even through the tarp, seeped the warmth from her bones until she was shivering. Teeth chattering, she hugged her arms close, curling into herself.

Dagger saw her breath condense into little droplets on the edge of the tent that she was facing. Squeezing her eyes closed, she willed herself to get some sleep if only to get her mind off of the biting cold. She didn't notice the intent eyes that were watching her shiver.

She was so focused, lost in her own mind, that she didn't hear the faint rustle of movement at her back. Dagger was startled by the gentle arm that wrapped around her waist and pulled her backward. She was hushed quietly by Echo as she started to protest. He pulled her body to his. He held her to him, wrapping her in the jacket that he still wore.

He frowned as he felt Dagger shiver so violently, even with the high tech cold weather clothing he wore. An involuntary sigh left her lips as she felt Echo's warmth. Dagger faintly tried to wiggle away, there wasn't much heart to the action.

"Shhh. You're cold Dagger. Stay," Echo whispered.

"I'm fine," she grumbled.

Echo's chest rumbled with a quiet laugh, "I won't lose my brother to hypothermia. Relax. I promise I won't take your helmet."

He felt Dagger's body relax slightly and he pulled his partner in just a little closer before closing his eyes again. He had his body wrapped tightly around Dagger, trying to keep him warm with his body heat as Dagger's jacket clearly wasn't doing enough.

Dagger's mind was racing, she felt so small in Echo's arms. Could he tell? No, no way, she still had her chest wrapped, her helmet secure. He promised that he wouldn't take it, she trusted him. Dagger couldn't help but sink further into Echo's embrace, he was so warm and she was so cold.

Her eyelids began to droop and she fell into a deep sleep, more restful than she had experienced in a long time. It was odd because they were lying on the ground, but with Echo she was warm and in this moment she was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely reviews! I hope you all are enjoying this story. Please tell me what you think in the comments if you have the time!


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning Dagger woke with the sun, she was warm and it took her longer than usual to recognize where she was. She jerked slightly when she felt something shift against her back. Then, she remembered where she was and that Echo was behind her. He was still snoring lightly, his arms wrapped around her.

She gently maneuvered out of his grip and made sure that neither he nor either of their squad mates were awake. When Dagger was sure that she was the only one awake she grabbed a ration bar out of her bag, stomach growling in anticipation. Quietly, she removed her helmet and started to munch on her ration bar. She listened to the sound of the planet waking up. Critters in the woods chirped and the sun started to rise over the horizon.

Echo was woken from his own sleep by the click of a buckle. He opened his eyes groggily and blinked the sleep out of his vision. His front was cold, as if something had recently been removed, taking all the heat with it. Pulling his arms in he realized that the something that had moved was Dagger.

He saw Dagger adjusting his helmet, he had just put it back on. His eyes fell, he realized that he still wasn't allowed to see the face of his partner. He wished that he could show his trustworthiness to Dagger so that he wouldn't keep this secret anymore. Echo wouldn't ask, he wouldn't pry.

Echo was just curious and wondering. Yet that didn't mean he didn't feel a prick of sadness at the thought of his partner, his brother, not trusting him. He still didn't know what Dagger though would happen if they saw him without the helmet.

Dagger turned back around and started to check his pack. Echo just watched quietly, there was no need to start moving with any hurry yet. Once Dagger was satisfied he reached for Echo, to wake him up. The helmeted clone paused when her eyes met Echo's. Grey eyes open and watching curiously. Her heart was hammering. Had he seen? How long was he awake?

Echo smiled lazily, "morning Dagger. Were you warm enough last night?"

She let out the breath she had been holding, instead her worry was replaced with a red flush on her cheeks. Not trusting her voice to answer, she nodded.

Echo smiled again, "I remember what it was like to be small, I was always cold on Kamino. Never could get warm enough. You don't need to be cold among brothers."

"Thank you Echo."

The morning wake up patrol came in the form of Fives running around the circle of tents banging on a helmet with a stick. He was yelling at them to wake up and get their armor on. They were getting a last minute brief on the mission for today in 20 minutes, leaving the base camp in 40.

Everyone in the tent was awake now, all pulling their armor out of the tent and strapping it on. As the sun rose so did the temperatures, apparently the planet was only cold at night. The next hour went by in a blur, soon they were stalking through tall grass on an animal trail.

The mission units had divided into their companies. General Skywalker and Captain Rex took their men and were headed to the communications tower. General Kenobi and Commander Cody were sneaking off through the forest in the opposite direction. They were headed to the droid fortress. Echo and Dagger followed dutifully in line with the rest of their brothers, most belonging to the 212th.

Laying in the tall grass on top of the hill they all looked down upon the fortress. Through the binoculars Dagger could see the sentry droids patrolling the perimeter, everything was heavily armed. The Separatists had decided that they would put their fortress in the middle of a shallow lake with only one boardwalk to get into the base.

"Looks like we are going for a swim gentleman," the Jedi said with a happy glint in his eye.

Echo leaned in close to Dagger and whispered, "I don't like it when the General gets that look. Means he's up to no good."

Dagger tilted her head in question and Echo shook his head, "you'll find out soon enough kid."

"I'm not a kid," she grumbled under her breath, you know like a kid does.

Within the next twenty minutes, Dagger was ankle deep in mud and waist deep in water alongside the rest of her company. The General was happily leading their troop, the Commander followed less happily. They approached the backside of the compound, a blind spot in their defenses.

It was a smooth wall with no purchase in the middle of a lake, the Seppies didn't even know that the Grand Army was on the planet. So they were not expecting an incursion of any kind, much less a sneak attack.

They all lined up against the wall, backs flush to it while Commander Cody gave one last briefing, "alright you all know the deal. Today stealth is our friend, those clankers don't know we are coming. Take out as many as we can quietly, but as soon as the first blaster goes off that whole complex is going to go onto red alert. We have ten minutes from that point to silence the alarms or get out before the first support groups will be on our tails. This needs to be quick. General Skywalker is counting on us to get this base under control. They should have started their attack just minutes ago and will be on their way soon."

Time to get to work. Dagger's heart was pumping, eyes narrowed and breathing controlled. Her first real mission was about to start. She turned to Echo, who gave her a thumbs up and then grabbed his grappling hook.

In unison they shot the hooks to the top of the wall and secured them into their belts. The clones began the slow, but steady climb to the top of the towering wall.

Once they reached it, one by one they hopped over the ledge and disconnected from their lines. Sneaking up behind the lone droid patrol on the wall, Cody quickly snapped the mech's head sideways severing the control systems. The threat was neutralized and he gave the signal to continue the advance.

Dagger saw the ends of cloak tails disappear around the corner going the opposite direction of their group. Where was that Jedi going? She shook her head slightly, there was no telling with those creatures and their force magic.

They were all fanning out through the compound, Echo trailed along behind Dagger, scanning all angles dutifully. The clones were neutralizing the droids as quickly as possible. It was hard to tell how long they could go before they would have to resort to using their blasters. The company was working from the perimeter inward towards the more heavily guarded areas of the strong hold.

Dagger rounded a corner, she saw a droid with its blaster drawn aimed straight at the Commander's back. There was no time to think, she just had to act. There was no way to take out the droid any other way, no one was close enough to take it out in time.

In a flash, her blaster was drawn and fired. A smoking hole through the chest plate of the droid and the clatter of metal to the floor. Everyone turned to her.

The Commander whipped around to look for who had fired the shot, he saw Dagger holding the smoking gun. With a growl, he started barking commands to everyone. The halls flashed red and an almost deafening siren screamed from the speakers.

Everyone drew their blasters and opened fire on any and all targets. Dagger was panting with adrenaline, swept along with the action of the mission.

Before he could say anything to Dagger she was gone with Echo down the hall to secure the fortress and shut down the distress signal before it got off-world.

Cody was furious, had Dagger not heard him or just chosen to disobey his orders? How could he endanger everyone, all of their brothers like that? There was something wrong with that clone. He should not have fired on that droid.

Echo had taken off down the hall, Dagger followed hot on his heels. She didn't even realize the trouble she was going to be in after the mission. In her mind, she had done the right thing. Her reason was sound and she just assumed that everyone else understood. Now it was time to put it in overdrive.

Their boots thudded down the hallway, the occasional shot from a blaster was shot off followed by metal crashing into the floor. The blast doors in front of them opened up suddenly to reveal 20 B2s.

"Oh shit!"

They both dove out of the way and into the cover offered by the sides of the hallway. Unfortunately, they both dove in different directions. Dagger on the left and Echo to the right. Pinned down and separated, the droids were closing in.


	13. Chapter 13

They looked across the corridor at each other, their view obstructed by laser bolts being fired from the super droids. Echo and Dagger took turns laying down cover fire. If they didn't come up with a plan soon they would be out of options and dead. The droids were getting closer and closer. They couldn't retreat back down the hallway without leaving their cover, surely they would be shredded by blaster fire.

"Dagger I have an idea. This base has a lot of tunnels in the walls for ventilation or wires. Use your cutter and try to get a hole in the wall behind you, we can sneak out that way," Echo explained.

She nodded and got to work with her plasma cutter. Echo covered her and she could hear him shouting that the droids were getting closer. She quickly relayed a message through the comm channel of their position and their situation.

The only response she got back was that everyone was occupied with the base on high alert. There was no one to come and help them. They were on their own.

"I made it through Echo! It's a tunnel going straight down," she shouted to him.

"Cover me!" he yelled. She did as he asked, about to question what he was doing. Before she could even get the question out he was sprinting across the hallway and diving into her little corner of shelter.

"Echo! You idiot!" she screeched, "the fuck did you just do?"

He looked up at her from where he laid on the floor from his sliding halt, "what? I'm here now, not dead."

She could hear the smile in his voice and she was raging with worry on the inside, he could have gotten shot! The droids were _right_ there! She set her jaw, "good thing too, cause if we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you."

With that comment she pushed him into the hole that she had created in the wall. His laugh was cut off abruptly with a shout of concert, "Dagger!"

Dagger laid down more cover fire at the droids that were too close. After a few seconds she dove into the hole as well, hoping that whatever was at the bottom wouldn't kill them.

She was falling for a good few seconds, then the chute opened up into a small room. Dagger tilted her head in confusion before only seeing white landing with a thud in something.

"Oof," was the breath that was forced out of her on impact. She was dazed and just laid face down in some sort of large container. Afraid to even move at the moment, she tried to catalog her body, was she injured anywhere? She couldn't feel anything except the violent pounding of her heart.

"Echo?" she called into the room, "You okay?"

She heard steps above her, it sounded like boots in sand. Then she felt herself being lifted by her underarms out of whatever substance she was in. She was placed on her feet and she looked up to see Echo, without his helmet, smiling down at her. She shook her head in confusion.

"Rice, Dagger, we found rice!" he was so excited.

She, on the other hand, was so confused. She looked around and saw that they had in fact landed in a giant vat of rice.

Once he was sure that Dagger was secure on his feet, Echo kneeled down and pulled out a drawstring bag from his pack and started shoveling rice into it. Dagger's eye started twitching, "What the hell are you doing? We have droids looking for us, a red alert to disable, and a team to support and you are taking the rice?! The fucking rice? What the hell wrong with you?"

"Are you kidding me? This rice is as good as currency! It would be stupid to leave it here," Echo explained as if it was the most logical thing.

Dagger grabbed him by the top of his chest plate and pulled him away and out of the vat of rice, "we have a mission to complete. If we survive, the rice falls into Republic hands and needs to be given to worlds who need these rations to live."

As she tugged him, he slipped on something and fell, crashing out of the vat and to the floor. Dagger rolled her eyes, leaving him to pick himself up. She made her way down to the floor more gracefully. He quickly scurried to his feet, "eww, what is this slime?"

Dagger looked back at him and saw that parts of his armor were covered with light green goo. She huffed, "I don't know Echo, but can we continue? I'm sure you have seen or been in worse."

He nodded and they both exited the room, blasters up, on high alert for droids. Their path was unimpeded, the hallways seemed deserted.

The unit had seized the compound and the red alert was shut off. The hallway that Dagger and Echo were occupying was plunged into darkness and silence. A stark contrast to the screeching red alarms that had been sounding just moments ago. They both switched on their helmet lights.

Echo radioed the Commander asking for a status update. They had won the battle, the base was now in Republic hands. Rex's company was on their way currently, they were going to occupy the fortress for the remainder of the mission. They needed to stay with the supplies until they could be taken to their original destination to be sure that the Separatists didn't return. Echo and Dagger were to report back to the rest of the group as soon as possible.

"See, we should have got more of that rice," Echo said with a smile in his voice.

Dagger shook her head and started to walk back in the way that she guessed would lead them to a lift of some sort to get them back to their team. She didn't quite let her guard down, she was worried that there were more droids on the base and had to stay on high alert.

The trek back was uneventful and quiet, neither had much to say or wanted to say much coming down from the adrenaline high of the battle. By the time they arrived at the platform, the other company had arrived and everyone was getting debriefed by the Commander and Captain.

Echo and Dagger stood at the back of the group and listened. Echo leaned back on the busted machinery left over on the platform. Dagger heard an electric spark from the broken thing and Echo let out a quiet yelp. She shook her head, this boy did even more stupid stuff than she did.

"Sir, I have an issue," he said to the officers, interrupting their debriefing.

"Not now Echo," was Rex's response as he tried to scan the group looking for the Arc trooper.

"Even if I'm on fire sir?" he responded, voice cool and steady as ever.

"Holy shit Echo, you're on fire!"

"I know Captain, that is my issue," Dagger's head whipped back to her friend and her eyes almost bugged out of her head. His whole chest plate was on fire. She ran at him and tackled him to the floor. Working quickly she undid his shoulder and side buckles whipping the burning armor off his chest and stamping out the flames with her boot.

He sat up and looked at the smoldering armor, then at Dagger. He took off his helmet and gave her a lopsided smile, "thanks Dagger."

She kneeled down next to him, "you ok?"

He nodded, by now there was a circle formed around them now of brothers. Rex held out a hand for Echo to help him up. As he lifted the man he chuckled, "always one for the dramatics."

"Sir, I don't know if that one is my fault."

~B~

Cody watched his troopers as they finished clearing the fortress and started setting up their equipment. He kept his eyes trained on one man in particular, Dagger. He didn't trust him completely before, but now he had a reason that confirmed his distrust.

Dagger had gone against orders to not fire his weapon unless it was absolutely necessary. He killed a one off droid out of nowhere. This had revealed them to the separatists and put the droids on alert which endangered his brother's lives.

He didn't understand why the clone would do that. Why risk the mission? To kill one droid? Could it be that Dagger was just that shiny that he didn't know better or was he something worse. He never took off that helmet so could Dagger be a spy?

Cody was lost in his thoughts, spiraling deeper and deeper into the implications of Dagger's actions. He didn't even notice Rex walking up to him and following his line of sight, "so why are you staring daggers at Dagger, Cody?"

The Commander shook his head as if to physically dislodge the thoughts, maybe he was overthinking everything. No way would a brother betray them. He took in a deep breath, "I'm just thinking. Something isn't adding up."

"We live in crazy times, I'm sure you will figure it out vod, but for now we have work to do." Rex asked.

Cody nodded.

~B~

"Yes sir, right away sir," the communicator shut off with a finality to it. The sun was starting to set on the forest planet and everyone was in their tents in the fortress courtyard. Dagger looked up at Echo who was watching her with a raised brow.

"I have to go talk with Commander Cody," she explained before rising from where they had been sitting, "I'm sure I'll be back soon."

Within a few minutes, she was standing in front of the Officer tent. She wasn't quite sure where to knock. So she ended up deciding on the metal pole. A few seconds later the tent flap was pulled aside and the Commander beckoned her into the tent.

Dagger remained silent, trying to gauge the Commander's mood. To be honest, she really didn't know why he called her in. Everything had gone well today in her mind. Cody seemed tense, like he was struggling with something internally. He motioned for her to sit on the rug across from where he sat.

"So, how did today go Dagger? First mission in the field, I just wanted to gage how you are feeling," Cody explained. He did genuinely care about how everything had gone and he did care for his brother's safety. But he also wanted to try and deduce if Dagger had any ulterior motives or he simply made a mistake during the mission.

Dagger nodded thinking for a moment, "I think it went well. High stress, but I think it was overall successful. We did our job, the fortress is ours now."

"High stress is what we do," Cody said.

"I know Commander, I was just so worried about messing up when there were lives on the line. Missing a shot or not being fast enough. This isn't training anymore and I will not be the reason for losing a brother," she explained.

The Commander silently studied the helmeted clone. The words he said did not match the thoughts that had been swarming in Cody's mind. With a storm in his mind he dismissed Dagger and went to sit by his bed roll. He sat there facing the wall, pondering the brother that was Dagger.

It just didn't add up to him. Everything was going well during the mission, then out of no where Dagger shot a droid that another could have incapacitated much quieter. Then everything after the mission had gone smoothly, as well as it could have. There had to be a reason that Dagger had shot that droid. Maybe he would ask Rex for his opinion. He needed answers dammit!

"Are you ok? Your face is getting red," Rex said suddenly, startling Cody

"Nothing!" he exclaimed in surprise.

The Captain let out a chuckle as he removed his helmet, "Nothing? I don't think that answers the question brother."

Cody let out a sigh and settled back into his spot turning to face him, "I mean yes I'm ok. I've just been thinking still and I actually wanted to ask you a question now that you are here."

"Alright, but just know that I had nothing to do with Echo being on fire."

"I figured that since you were with me at the time. But I wanted to ask about Dagger."

"Good kid, even if he is a bit shiny."

Cody nodded, "I know, but something from the mission isn't sitting right with me. I gave my company orders to not fire unless absolutely necessary. Everyone was following as they should, then out of nowhere Dagger shoots down a droid from clear across the room. Why would he do that if someone closer could have taken it out and would have been quieter?"

"Lets sketch it out, see if we can't solve the mystery. Since you obviously weren't going to ask Dagger about it. I saw him walking out of here before I came in," Rex said as he sat next to his brother, pulled out a stylus to draw in the packed dirt and handed it to Cody, "what did the area you were clearing look like?"

Rex gave Cody prompts to try and lay out the scene. The environment, where every trooper was, and maybe most importantly where the droid in question was and the direction it came from. In the end they had a complete picture.

"So everyone was moving in this direction. When the droid came around this corner it was in a blind spot to everyone in the unit except Dagger and I. But I was scanning the other way when the shot went off, so I didn't see it," Cody explained while gesturing with his hands along the picture.

Rex used a stick as a straightedge, "Cody look at these trajectories from its hiding spot. Did it have its weapon up?"

Cody thought for a moment, a realization slowly dawning on him. He was slow with his reply, "it did. And the only target it could hit was me."

The Commander looked up at the Captain, "Dagger saved my life. That's what he was talking about missing a shot. If he hadn't taken out that droid it would have taken me out."

Rex nodded and nudged his shoulder, "and you doubted him. He's got more fight and sense in him than most shinys."

He was practically sulking by now, but he nodded in agreement. Cody knew that Rex was right. He trusted Dagger, he was just upset at himself for being blind to the attack. Blind to the threat. Blind to the fact that Dagger saved his life. Blind and questioning Dagger's motives.

Cody decided he would make it up to the kid. Nothing crazy, but he would make sure the kid was taken care of. Most of all he would make sure that he didn't question him again.


	14. Chapter 14

Ugh. Guard duty. Honestly, Dagger had been expecting more fighting when they finally went on a mission. Yet here she was patrolling a fortress with no signs of it's previous captors returning.

It would take time for the carriers to get all of the supplies off the surface to be delivered to where they were needed. They had to guard the fortress from Separatists until then. According to intelligence this base wasn't supposed to report in for another week, so there was little chance of anyone realizing that the Republic had taken the fortress back.

So Dagger walked along the top of the outer wall; scanning the trees for any movement out of the ordinary. Echo patrolled the opposite end of the same wall. They had been up there for hours and Dagger sweat had soaked through her blacks. Soon enough their shift would be over and they could cool off in the shade.

"Oh my god! Dagger get over here," Echo called suddenly.

Her heart raced at the prospect of danger, she was on high alert as she ran over. Only to look out and see no enemy. She was about to ask what he had seen when Echo let out a coo, "look at that cute little guy."

She used her HUD to zoom in on the tiny creature he was pointing at, "that's a bunny Echo."

"Do you think if I caught it Captain would let me keep it?"

"Not on the ship he wouldn't, but maybe he would let you bring it into camp. It doesn't matter though because there is no way you are going to be able to catch that thing," she stated matter of factly.

"How much do you want to bet on that?"

She let out a laugh, "ten credits."

"Oh you are so on," Echo said. He turned on his communicator, "Captain Rex, this is Echo. Requesting permission to go down to the forest by the east wall to inspect possible suspicious activity."

"Nothing is being picked up on the scanners. What do you see?"

Dagger shook her head in amusement, this was never going to work. Echo lifted the communicator again, "uhh, possible dangerous creature from the forest. I think it would be best if I go check it out, Captain. It won't take long."

They heard Captain Rex's amused tone, "are you going to investigate a dangerous looking rabbit?"

"Yes, sir," he replied quickly causing Dagger to smack her helmet, no way he would let Echo go.

"Permission granted, take your partner with you."

"What?" she said almost in shock that he was going to let Echo go down to try and catch the bunny. And that she had to go with him.

If he didn't have his helmet on, she was sure that he would have been smirking triumphantly. They went down the stairs and walked across the pier. She resigned herself to leaning against the post while watching.

Echo stalked quietly closer and closer to the unsuspecting bunny. When he finally pounced he threw his whole body forward with his arms outstretched. Dagger laughed at the dive and was shocked to see him grasping the bunny gently in his gloved hands.

~B~

"Captain, thank you for coming," General Skywalker greeted.

"What do you need sir?" Rex asked.

"Actually, I just wanted to talk to you for a quick second. That thing that you requested. The villagers said they would be happy to make it for us. They said it would be the least they could do after we drove the separatists out."

"Thank you General. I appreciate you doing that for us."

"Of course Rex. Just don't involve me like you did last year. I swear I had bruises for a month after that."

The clone Captain just chuckled and went about his way.

~B~

A dog pile. That is what the night ended up as. The troopers had been having a fire, then no one had wanted to get more wood so they got closer and closer as the flames dwindled. Now, they all lay in a pile.

Heads on stomachs, arms behind legs of another. Personal space was not an issue, mostly just warmth. Dagger lay on her back looking up at the stars. Her head rested on Echo's thigh, he had insisted that the helmet didn't bother him and wasn't uncomfortable. He held the bunny against his chest, the little thing was sound asleep. Fives laid on Dagger's stomach and somehow both Kix and Hardcase were wrapped around her lower legs, heads resting on her thighs.

She had resigned herself to not moving hours ago. When a brother laid on you, they trusted you, so you let them sleep. They had to be tired so she would not be the one to disturb them.

Dagger had been watching the stars for a while, using her HUD to figure out the different constellations or making her own if there was no data. She could hear shuffling around the camp every once in a while. A brother coming or going somewhere.

The officers had assigned themselves watch duty when they found the majority of both battalions all in a huddle in the middle of the courtyard rather than in their tents. Rex had taken the first shift and she had seen him sitting on the outskirts of the pile for a while until he left her peripheral vision.

Her eyes had grown heavy and closed of their own accord, she could have sworn she heard Commander Cody take his place. She was far too tired to be able to tell. She allowed herself to fall into a restless sleep.

~B~

CT 19580, you are a disappointment to the proud Kamino reputation. You are a mistake. You can't even do a training drill correctly. What do you have to say for yourself?

I am sorry, Madam.

Sorry isn't good enough! This is the second time this week that you have made a mistake. Your brothers are already far beyond your training. You are lazy and unable to keep up.

Madam, I'm trying as hard as I can. If you would just let me try again, I'm sure I can do it right this time.

NO! You are unworthy and disobedient. You know what happens when you make mistakes.

Yes, Madam.

Good, then you know what has to happen next.

She bowed her head and closed her eyes, bracing for what was to come.

~B~

She shot up with a gasp, as if she had been stung. Her nightmare quickly faded into the back of her mind, but the feeling of dread that it left was far from gone. She realized that someone had woken her up. She felt the pressure of a hand on her arm and looked up to see Commander Cody leaning over her.

"Commander, what's wrong? Did something happen?" she asked, if the Commander woke her, then something had to have happened.

"Nothing is wrong. You were just having a nightmare," he stood and offered his hand, "come on."

She took the offered hand and let him pull her out of the pile of bodies. There was slight grumbling from those who had been using her as a pillow, but they adjusted to laying on each other easily. It would take more than that to wake them. She followed the Commander even after he let go of her hand.

Unsure of where they were going she stayed quiet. Soon, and for the second time, she found herself in the officer's tent. Rex was asleep on the side of the tent, but Cody gestured for her to sit wherever. He went to the back of the tent and prepared two cups of tea.

He came back and handed her a cup, she was grateful for the warmth in her hands, but knew she couldn't drink it with her helmet. Cody sat next to her on the bedroll and handed her a straw. Oh ok, that solved that problem.

She would have laughed at the solution, but instead turned to the Commander with a questioning gaze. He must have been able to tell from her tilted helmet.

"Don't worry, Rex sleeps like the dead," he explained.

"I know, but sir, why did you bring me here?" she asked.

"You were having a nightmare. I guess I just wanted to help. I can listen if you want to talk about it, or talk about anything else to distract you from it," he explained.

"Thank you sir, I don't know if that is necessary. It was just a nightmare, I don't even remember what about."

"You don't have to go through your nightmares on your own. That's why we are all here."

"Aha. I'm glad you are here Commander, don't know what the unit would do without you," she said honestly.

He felt a stab of guilt at his statement. This was the trooper whom he had doubted his abilities and allegiance. A man who was just as plagued by nightmares as the rest of them. He hadn't believed in Dagger when that is all he had ever done for him.

He took a breath before he spoke, "I never said thank you. For yesterday."

Dagger's helmet tipped to the side as she took a drink of her tea, "what do you mean sir?"

"You saved my life from that droid, I never would have seen it in time."

"I was just doing my job sir. Anyone would have done the same," she answered dutifully.

"That doesn't take away from what you did today. I'm glad to be here kid and that is all because of you," Cody said looking over at the rookie.

Her head dipped at the subtle praise, "thank you Commander, I am glad you are safe."

He raised his cup to hers and lightly tapped them together. They lapsed into comfortable silence, both leaning back against the posts of the tent. Dagger didn't even notice her eyes drift shut or her head slide to the side and rest against the tall shoulder of the Commander. For the second time that night she fell asleep against a brother. This time there were no nightmares.

~B~

Rex woke up in his sleeping bag and stretched his tight muscles. He sure hoped everyone who had decided to sleep outside last night had stayed warm enough.

The Captain shook his head at the unit's antics. They spend most of their time in a ship among the stars and when they were on a planet, they decided to sleep outside and stargaze. Open to the elements, he would never understand.

However he was glad that it was in a clearing in a fortress rather than in the middle of a forest, exposed to wildlife. Except of course for Echo's bunny. He called it a rabbit once and had gotten a ten minute lecture on the difference between bunnies and rabbits. Echo had asked if he could keep the thing and Rex had agreed. Echo would have to set it free when they left but he didn't see the harm of letting him keep it for the night.

He had called the first watch and had checked over all of his troopers. He had smiled when he saw Dagger in the middle of a pile of his brothers. It was comical, the way that everyone had surrounded the littlest one. Excuses of, 'you are the comfiest' were thrown out. Yet he knew the real reason, Rex had overheard Echo talking about how Dagger had gotten cold that first night on the planet.

Brothers looked after their own. He was glad that Dagger was fitting in well with everyone. When he had finally tapped out and switched with Cody everyone had been sleeping peacefully.

So that did not explain why, when he finally opened his eyes, he saw the helmet with a blue stripe over the left eye. He had no clue why Dagger was in the officer tent, he hadn't heard anything last night. Yet here Dagger was with his head against Cody's shoulder.

Both of them were asleep sitting against the poles of the tent. How could that possibly be comfortable. He watched them as he stood.

As soon as he stood up Dagger flinched and he knew the trooper was now awake. He saw the helmet moving slightly side to side, getting a bearing of where he was no doubt.

"So what brings you here, Dagger?" he asked with a playful smirk.

"The Commander," she answered softly.

He narrowed his eyes but nodded, "we are packing up and leaving today. If you could get Fives up I would appreciate it."

She nodded and stood, leaving Cody alone against the pole. He woke up just as she left the tent and he looked up at Rex. His eyes were bleary from sleep but he smiled, "morning vod."

Rex smirked again before drawling, "morning… So Dagger just left. Why was he here?"

"He was having a nightmare, so I brought him here for tea."

"And he took off his helmet for that?" Rex asked, surprised.

"Has the 501st never heard of straws?" the commander responded.


	15. Chapter 15

With no signs of the Separatists and the supplies all loaded it was time to leave the planet. The 501st and the 212th Clone Trooper Battalions packed up and were on gunships shuttling them back to their shared starship.

Dagger tried to hide in the back of the ship, bracing herself in the corner so she wouldn't have to reach for the handholds again. Embarrassment from the event, still fresh in her mind.

Even though she was doing her best to remain out of sight while everyone was loading up, someone still spotted her, "hiding in the shadows is more of the Jedi's job. Come on kid, you won't fall again. I'll make sure of it"

Dagger followed Rex to his spot in the carrier and held his arm as they started to take off. They were all in various states of armor and Rex's was mostly in his pack, he only wore his boots. Dagger could feel his arm tense and relax with small adjustments when the carrier shifted to and from.

Once again her cheeks heated up, she felt wrong touching his arm. She was never allowed to be near the males on Kamino. Not to mention she never was a touchy person. This mission was the most contact she has ever had with anyone physically. Between her Captain, Echo, and the rest of her company last night, she had more touch than she had ever experienced in her life. And she didn't want it to end, it was nice to feel the warmth of another person.

As the carrier started to descend back into the belly of the Resolute, she realized that she liked being able to feel something from another living being. Even after the ship landing her hand hovered after him once he started to walk towards the door. If Rex noticed he didn't mention it. Rather he transitioned seamlessly into giving orders for offloading their supplies and getting his unit settled back into routine on the Resolute.

~B~

A few days in hyperspace and all was going well. Dagger was still sneaking out at night to train on her own, she always made sure to make it back a few hours before wake up call to get in some sleep.

No one seemed to notice her slipping out of bed late at night. No one woke up when she returned, freshly showered, early in the morning. She had set a schedule for herself. Start working out before midnight and keep working till at least two in the morning. Not even Commander Cody, who shared the bottom bunk, noticed her climbing up and down the ladder at odd hours.

It was exhausting but she was getting a lot better at it. Most importantly she was starting to see some, albeit slow, improvement. Tonight it seemed like her head had just hit her pillow when she was startled away again.

Not an alarm, but something just as jarring woke Dagger instead of the normal "lights on" routine. A kazoo, out of nowhere, starts being played off key and really loud, as if being played through a megaphone.

Dagger shot up in bed to see Fives standing in the doorway. With a megaphone. With a kazoo. She just stared at him as he continued his crazed song. Everyone else was shooting up and making noise. Jumping around getting dressed and rushing into the hallway. She spotted Echo as he tried to run past her bunk, he didn't even have shoes on.

Dagger leaned down and grabbed him by the arm stopping him in his tracks, "what is going on?"

"It's our birthday!" he said with a wide smile.

"Where are you going?"

"To the mess hall. We get cake for breakfast," and with that he was gone.

Poor Dagger just sat there for another moment before laying back down in bed, it didn't seem like this was something that she would be partaking in. So she might as well get some more sleep while she can. She sighed and turned over onto her face. Helmet, as always, covering her head as well as most of her exhaustion. The stomping of bare feet faded as the clones rushed down the hallway to get to the dining hall.

After a minute or so there was a pair of footsteps that entered the room, she lifted her head to see who it was she saw Rex enter the room with two plates of cake. She tilted her head in confusion, conveying what she knew her face could not express.

The Captain seemed to understand her unspoken question, "I know you can't eat with the rest of everyone, but that doesn't mean that you should miss out on celebrating our birthday. I asked General Skywalker if he could get us cake and the locals on our last mission made us this. Something about thanking us for what we did."

He placed one of the plates of cake into her hands and sat on the bunk underneath hers, out of sight and unable to see her. She waited a moment to make sure he was going to stay there. When she was satisfied that he wasn't going to stand up again she glanced around the room one last time to be sure no one was watching, then she slowly took off her helmet.

Rex quietly waited until he heard the hiss of the helmet release and then began to eat. Then he decided to explain, "You just got out of Kamino recently so you've never had a field birthday before have you?"

He paused waiting for a response, but when it was obvious that he wasn't going to get one he continued on, "So humans do this thing where on the day they were born every year they have a celebration. Since there are so many of us if we did that we would be having multiple birthday parties everyday. If you even want to consider us being born instead of made. Either way, it wouldn't be possible to have birthday parties for everyone so we decided to have one celebration for all of us on one day a year. And that is today."

Rex paused to see if Dagger was going to say anything, but he was quiet as usual. He heard the sound of the fork scraping the bottom of the plate. Typical of most of the clones, trying to get every bit of sweetness off of the bottom of the plate. They didn't get treats all that often. He heard Dagger let out a soft sign and then the sound of the helmet being strapped back onto his head.

"It's actually the day that our host was born, Jango Fett. So it's like a day off for us where we get to have fun. Cody got to plan it out for our unit this year. You don't have to participate if you don't want to but you are welcome to celebrate with us."

"Thank you," Dagger responded, her helmet now firmly back on her head. She climbed down the ladder at the foot of the bed.

Rex looked up at her with calm, but hopeful eyes. She found herself wanting to participate in the celebration. To honor their host and her mentor. Also to be a part of the unit. They always did their best to make her feel included, but she still felt like an outcast because of what she is. She bit her lip and she wished that she could be just like them, another clone in the masses.

Dagger handed the plate back to him with a nod, "what's first?"

Rex smiled, she would celebrate with them. Maybe Dagger would have some fun, since they had gotten back from the mission he had been tense, always locked on and focused on training. Relaxing and partaking in the celebration might do Dagger some good.

~B~

"Pin the horns on the what now?" Dagger asked as Echo tied a black shirt around her helmet effectively blocking all of her vision.

"Pin the horns on the Tauntaun, you know those weird two leg fluffy lizard things on Hoth," he explained.

"I've never even been to Hoth. How am I supposed to know what a Tauntaun looks like," she asked, still very confused at the latest of many games they were playing.

They had played dodgeball with deactivated droid poppers in the hallway. She had never seen General Skywalker run away before, but when he realized he was caught in the crossfire he sprinted out of that danger zone. The troopers were notorious for their hand eye coordination as well as ruthlessly powerful throws. Blame it on grenade throwing drills.

Then they played capture the flag. Dagger still thought that it was cheating that Commander Cody had hid the 212th's flag in General Kenobi's robes. How were they supposed to get a flag from a Jedi, it was ridiculous.

Dagger had not stopped smiling for hours now. This was one of the best days ever. Now it was time for their latest game. Of course ,since she was the new addition, they had to make sure she went first.

"Eh you'll figure it out," Fives said with a snicker, he placed the piece in her hand telling her where the adhesive was and sent her off with a push.

She walked forward confidently. Of course she remembered where the wall was, she had just seen it a second ago. The blind fold couldn't throw off her depth perception that much. Right?

Wrong. She crashed headfirst into the wall smacking it loudly. The impact bounced her off and she landed back on her ass. Everyone roared with laughter. She huffed, ripping off the blindfold, "this game is stupid! How are you supposed to win if you can't see anything."

Someone pulled her up by the armpit, "nice one Dagger. Hey Echo, catch!"

Then she was pushed into the crowd of laughing soldiers. She let out a shout of protest as she stumbled into Echo who caught her, laughing. She almost thought that she saw his cheeks get red, but the thought was whisked away as he pushed her at someone else. Dagger tried to stop herself from spinning, but she just kept getting shoved around. Trying to plant her feet did nothing but set her off balance.

"Stop! Hey! Cut it out!" she shouted, her words lost in the laughing of the brothers playing around.

She couldn't get control of the direction that she was going. She tried to grab something, an arm, a hand, anything. She couldn't get a grip.

She couldn't control anything. She was at their mercy and didn't even know what had happened. Where had it all gone wrong? What if they decided that they wanted her helmet? They could take it and she wouldn't be able to do anything to stop them. Her world was spinning so bad the only reason she wasn't on the floor was because they kept shoving her around.

She had never been scared of her brothers before, but she was starting to get scared now. Never them, never scared of brothers. Scared of others, yes. Scared of reactions, yes. Never brothers, until now.

Suddenly an ear piercing whistle was blown. The room instantly fell quiet and the once laughing gaggle of clones paused mid action. Dagger, still off balance, crashed to the floor, sprawling out face first.

After her world stopped spinning, she looked up to see a hand extended down to her, an offer of peace. It was Commander Cody. Once she was standing again, he stepped in front of her towards the group, "is that anyway to treat your brother? Throwing around the smallest one of you like a toy, even when he is yelling at you to stop? You all are ridiculous. You are supposed to be playing games and celebrating together, but instead you are picking on each other. I thought the 501st had more class than that."

Cody was steaming hot. Every head in turn dropped to look at the floor. They hadn't realized that they were upsetting anyone they were just playing around. Now the Commander had come in and given them the disappointed mom talk. For boys without any mom, wow it worked. A few of them were mumbling to the Commander that they were sorry

"I'm not going to tell you who to apologize to, certainly not to me. But I think you all could have made Dagger's first field birthday a lot better than this shit show I just watched," with that he turned to look for the clone in question, but Dagger was gone. The door was already closed behind her.

Dagger rushed down the hallway away from that room, not paying attention to which way she was going. She knew she shouldn't be this upset, but she was on the verge of tears. It had scared her and she didn't like how everyone was laughing at her. She ducked into a room and closed the door. She sat against the door and took off her helmet. She pulled her knees to her chest while she hid her head in her arms. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

All she had wanted was to have fun with the unit and feel like one of them. The only thing she was feeling now was like an outsider. The same as it had always been, what was she doing wrong? Was it really just the helmet that didn't let them get close to her?

Her heart ached with the longing to belong with the others in her unit. They were all so close to each other and now they just make fun of her. Dagger had thought that they had begun to accept her into the group, but now she didn't think so.

She couldn't stop her lip from quivering. Dagger was hurting so bad and it wasn't from any physical injury. Those she could deal with. Now she was desperate and longing for some form of comfort that she could not attain.

Minutes went by, every time she heard footsteps she tried to be as quiet as she could, but nothing could really silence her soft sobs completely. She heard a lot of brothers rushing around it sounded like they were planning something. Probably another game or celebration for their birthday. Whatever it was she wouldn't go, she would just sit in her corner and wait for everyone to go to sleep. Then she could train on her own and in the morning everything would go back to being normal.


	16. Chapter 16

Rex had been in a quick meeting with his General and Commander. They had requested his presence to keep him updated on their upcoming missions. He had been pulled away from the festivities for just under an hour.

He was saying his goodbyes when Cody burst into the room, his own General wandering in casually behind him. Kenobi had sensed his Commander's unease and wanted to see what was going on.

Cody strode up to where Captain Rex was standing, "afternoon General Skywalker, Commander Tano. May I have a word with Captain Rex?"

"Afternoon Commander, what's got you in such a rush?" Anakin asked.

"Respectfully sir, I think that we would all rather this matter to be handled internally. We like to take care of our own issues, no need for you all to be concerned," Commander Cody explained. Rex raised his brow, what issue had happened in the short time he had been gone.

"Remember that they are our men too, Commander. Please tell us if we can be of any assistance," Obi Wan said gently.

The officers both nodded and strode out of the room. Once clear and in a secluded hallway both brothers removed their helmets, "Cody what is going on? I left right as they were about to start playing games, what could have possibly gone so wrong? Please tell me Echo isn't on fire again."

"Actually not this time. I walked in to were the 501st was playing games and they sure were playing, but it wasn't pin the horns on the Tuan Taun anymore," his voice was starting to rise from a low whisper into a louder tone, "they were throwing around Dagger in the middle of the circle. He was tripping all over himself and couldn't stop. They were all laughing at him and he was yelling, almost screaming at them to stop. After stepped in Dagger bolted, I have no idea where he went. I wanted you to help me find him and help him out or something."

Rex took a deep breath, processing the amount of information that Cody had just spouted at him. The commander was practically vibrating in his armor waiting for the response Rex was to give. Amber eyes swarming with thoughts.

When he finally spoke it was calm, "keep an eye on the rest of the boys, make sure they don't get into any more trouble. I will go find Dagger and make sure he's doing ok. I'm sure he is fine, Dagger is a strong one Cody, don't worry."

Cody gave an agreeable nod, "go do your dad thing, vod."

"My what?" He asked incredulously. What dad thing did he do?

"That thing where you can always find the brother who needs a helping hand at the right time. Kind of scary sometimes how accurate you are," he explained.

Rex let out a scoff telling him to get going. Once Cody was gone Rex let a small smirk appear on his face. He liked to take care of those in his battalion, life was hard and if he could make it just a bit easier by lending a helping hand at the right time then he would, every single time.

He walked through the halls searching for where the wayward brother had gone off to. Dagger wasn't in the barracks or even the mess hall, Rex hadn't expected to find him there but grabbed a snack anyway. Clones loved snacks and maybe Dagger would appreciate it. He continued his walk trying to determine which way it was more likely for Dagger to go. Rex stopped at a door when he heard soft crying from the other side of it.

He looked up and realized it was his office. Rex's heart ached hearing someone, presumably Dagger, crying on the other side of that durasteel door. He knocked softly on the door leaning close and calling Dagger's name.

The crying stopped abruptly as if he was holding his breath. Rex held a sad smile on his face, "come on kid, I know you are in there. I'm not here to make fun of you, I'm just here to talk. Let me in?"

He listened closely and heard sniffling, then the hiss of a helmet being placed back on Dagger's head. Rex nodded, he guessed it was to be expected that his helmet would be put back on. The handle was turned and the door swung inward, Rex saw the newest clone sitting on the floor head hung low.

He wouldn't look up at Rex, even with his helmet on. So Rex sat cross legged in front of him. Placing the snack in front of Dagger easily within reach, but also not encroaching too much into his space. The pair sat in silence for a long time.

Dagger didn't know what to do, still reeling with emotions she tried to keep the remainders of her tears silent. She wondered why her Captain was here but did not trust her voice enough yet to ask the question. Every once in a while she would steal a look up at him. He was always just patiently waiting.

Minutes passed and her breathing deepened. Finally she asked, "what are you doing here Captain?"

He held a gentle smile, "well it is my office rookie."

Her head raised and looked around at the surroundings she had failed to take in up until now. She found that she was in fact in his office. Her cheeks heated up like a young cadet getting caught stealing sweets, she hadn't meant to end up here.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I'll leave," she tried to stand and leave the room, but before she could even get all the way up a gentle hand wrapped around her wrist and persuaded her to stay.

"I never asked for you to leave. I was looking for you," he pulled Dagger back down to the ground so that they were facing each other, their knees almost touching.

She sniffed, "why were you looking for me sir?"

He sighed, "would you call me Rex, please? And because Cody told me what happened and he was worried about you."

"I'm fine," Dagger mumbled looking at the floor.

"That wasn't nice of them to do to you. They shouldn't be making fun of someone in their own unit," he said, as much as he knew how to talk to clones. Dagger was different. He couldn't quite tell what to say to help him feel better.

"They were just messing around, they didn't mean any harm," she answered.

Rex turned his head in contemplation, "not meaning to do any harm is not the same thing as not causing harm."

Her hands were fidgeting in her lap nervously and she let out a weak laugh, "did you learn that from a Jedi sir?"

He tapped her on the knee looking into her visor expectantly. "I mean, Rex."

He smiled and nodded, "something like that."

They lapsed back into a small silence, he noticed that as his hand still rested lightly on Dagger's knee. He pulled back his hand and thought he saw the younger clones' shoulders slump slightly. Hmm. Maybe Dagger just needed a hug, sometimes brothers were like that. All they needed to be cheered up was a kind touch.

Life in the GAR was hard and they did not get hugs often. Rex rocked forward so that he was sitting up on his heels he leaned forward and as Dagger looked up. He put his hand on the back of his helmet and rested his forehead against the top of the bucket. His eyes here level with the eyepiece of his helmet, but he still couldn't see through.

Rex stayed like that for a while, holding Dagger close as he felt small tremors run through the clone. He kept his hand and on the smaller clones shoulder and holding his head close, "it's ok Dagger. Tomorrow everything is going to go back to how it was and everyone is going to forget this."

Dagger peered into the eyes of her commanding officer, shocked by the physical comfort he gave her. She enjoyed the warmth of his hand on his shoulder, it felt like it was washing away all of the hurt she was feeling. His brown eyes were filled with kindness and honesty.

He was surprised when Dagger reciprocated the action and placed his hand behind his neck. He smiled at the gesture, it was working. Mission accomplished.

~B~

"Dagger!" Echo shouted, running up to her as she entered the barracks later that night. She looked at him, one arm holding the other trying to make herself appear smaller, maybe then he wouldn't talk to her.

It didn't work, "hey Echo."

"Look we are all really sorry Dagger. We didn't know we were upsetting you. And we weren't thinking. And honestly we were just being a bunch of di'kuts. So we're sorry and we do-"

"Echo," she cut him off and he snapped his mouth closed, "it's ok. I forgive you."

He smiled and extended his hand to her, "well then if you are willing, would you follow me?"

She did not take his hand but she did agree to follow him to wherever he was taking her. She couldn't stay mad at her friend.

After they left, Rex entered the room and saw Cody sitting on his bunk with his elbows on his knees, contemplating. He went and sat next to his brother, "credit for your thoughts?"

"I think I overreacted," Cody answered honestly, "I think I got upset and might have blown this out of proportion. Maybe I should have just let Dagger figure this out on his own."

"Maybe, but what's done now is done, I'm glad you told me about it," Rex responded.

Cody looked over at him and gave him a small nudge, "stop it with those Jedi lines would you. How did it go anyway? He alright?"  
Rex smiled, "I told you not to worry didn't I? Dagger is fine, I found him in my office, of all places."

"Better than where you found Jesse that one time."

"Everywhere is better than where I found Jesse, poor kid was a mess. I actually forgot I told you about that," Rex answered.

Laughing, Cody responded, "you tell me everything Rex. Should we go see what Echo came up with and where he took Dagger?"

It ended up that Echo had taken Dagger to a viewing platform, one with a big window to the space outside. The unit set up a bunch of couches in a U all facing the passing stars and covered the area in between with as many blankets as they could find. When Dagger asked what they were doing Echo responded that they were having a star party.

He encouraged Dagger to sit wherever she wanted, then he sat next to her. Slowly the rest of the battalion started shuffling in. Some brought snacks, some brought little games, others brought holomovies. All of them found spots either on the couches or on the blankets. Dagger smiled, they all talked and joked around. She understood that this was their way of apologizing, everyone came and talked to her at some point during the night.

They all stayed up far past their curfew, the officers coming by periodically to make sure everything was going well. Rex and Cody decided to let the men do their own thing and it seemed to be working out. Everyone was bonding and having a good time.

Slowly, one by one, everyone started to drift asleep. Cricket was one of the first to pass out, his brothers snickered at him but let him be. Kix and Jesse who were sitting on one of the side couches watching a holomovie fell asleep with the recording still playing. Echo, Fives, and Dagger, who occupied the middle couch, were some of the last ones awake and stayed up watching the stars. Making stories about the different planets they saw pass.

At the end of one made up tale Dagger looked over and saw Fives passed out head back on the head rest and Echo slumped onto his shoulder. She smiled softly to herself. She heard soft footsteps behind her and peered over the back of the couch to see Rex in his black undersuit approaching.

"You good kid?"

She nodded, "I'm not a kid you know."

He leaned over the edge of the couch, one hand coming to rest on her still helmeted head, "I know. You prove that everyday. But you are still the youngest of the group, so by proxy you are a kid."

She huffed but didn't respond. They watched the stars slowly pass as the minutes did as well. Her eyes were starting to droop when the Captain spoke again.

"The 212th has been called to a separate mission again. So they won't be travelling with the 501st anymore."

"So the Commander won't be with us anymore?"

"No, I'm sure we will see them again soon. General Skywalker and Kenobi like to meet up periodically."

"Oh. I'm going to miss them," she said, her voice uncharacteristically small.

His hand shifted from her helmet to her shoulder, "I know Dagger, it's going to be strange for you because you have only seen us as a joint unit."

"You are staying right?"

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried," he said with a smile as he looked down at her as she tilted her head back to see him.

"Good."

With that a peaceful sleep finally came to her, she felt the Captain's hand leave her shoulder and heard his boot steps leave the room. Sleep gently welcomed her and she sank into it. There was nothing left to worry about right now, everything could wait till tomorrow. With her brothers around her, she finally felt safe as the star cruiser sailed through the deep of space.


	17. Chapter 17

The Resolute docked at a resupply station. Getting fuel and supplies while also meeting up with the Negotiator 2, which would carry the 212th away from the 501st Attack Battalion. It was a fitting day for them to leave, the day after their celebration.

General Kenobi led his men down the halls and out of the ship everyone was saying their goodbyes as they went. Commander Cody was the last in his line of men, taking a little too long saying goodbye to each man, but no one was going to dare tell him to hurry up. Everyone deserved a proper goodbye. The Commander knew better than most that he may never see some of these faces again.

Dagger stood in the middle of the line, the Commander stopped in front of her and she looked down at her feet. She didn't want him to go, scuffing her boot she asked, "who's going to be my bunk buddy now?"

He smiled and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Rex will take care of you boys. Just make sure you take care of him for me ok?," he leaned in to fake a whisper, "He gets a bit wild when unsupervised."

"Captain Rex, I don't believe it," she joked back, finally looking up at him, "thank you for everything Commander."

He nodded, "you're doing great kid. I'll be seeing you soon."

He turned to continue on his way, Dagger wanted more than anything for him and the rest of his brothers to stay. She watched him walk down the hallway and the airlock sealed behind them. The 212th was gone, at least for now.

Dagger slunk away from the group and headed back to the barracks. She climbed up on her bed and curled up in the corner. She just wanted a little quiet time. Her friends had left and she didn't know what to do. Obviously orders were orders, so she couldn't really do anything. Pretty soon, she heard the Resolute pull away from the supply station and then they jumped to hyperspace. On their way to their next mission, somewhere in the outer rim.

She laid there on her bunk for a long time. Dagger didn't move, she didn't speak. Everyone else was going about their days. Only the higher ups had jobs to do and no time to entertain the troopers with drills.

It was a controlled chaos whenever the 501st was left to their own devices. Shouting and throwing items of lesser importance. They made up games and would run through the halls. Some would take that time to practice or workout, while others would avoid the gym at all costs.

Echo had been about to go work out when he realized that he hadn't seen Dagger since the 212th had left. He would probably be sulking, but Echo reckoned that he could cheer Dagger up with some training. The trooper always seemed to love training and competition. Maybe in the process Echo could settle his nerves about something too.

With his mind made up, he turned around and went in search of Dagger. He found him curled on his bunk. With a sigh he climbed up the ladder and sat down next to Dagger's feet which were curled under him.

Echo placed a hand on his ankle, "hey Dagger, you doing ok?"

She didn't respond, obviously not.

"How do you get yourself into that small of a ball?" he joked.

She let out a little laugh and Echo allowed himself a small smile, "I mean really, there is no way I could fit in the corner of my bunk like that. I would surely fall out. Heh, just like you did your first morning here."

She let out a giggle, kicking him in the side, "don't bring that back up."

"Why not? Gotta tease you about something. And it got you to laugh, come on Dagger."

"Where are we going?" She asked as she sat up, a distraction would be appreciated. They jumped down from the bunk in synchronized bounds, landing with a thud on the duracrete floor.

Without pause, Echo bolted towards the door shouting over his shoulder, "race you to the training room!"

Dagger smirked and ran after him. Her legs pumped as she sprinted to keep up. A laugh burst from her mouth as he ran in a serpentine pattern down the hall. He was shouting about avoiding the enemy. She chased him and was getting closer and closer.

Just ahead the doors to the training room slid open. Dagger dove forward fingertips just brushing the nape of his neck. Echo slipped inside and immediately disappeared to the right with a sidestep.

As he stepped to the side he grabbed Dagger's outstretched arm spinning him around. Echo had misjudged the force that Dagger would spin with and he slammed him into the wall.

When she was flung around suddenly Dagger had grabbed a hold of Echo's shirt pulling him with her. He pushed her against the wall and fell forward pinning her there.

They panted heavily as Echo held her into the wall, too dazed to move. His palms pressed into the durasteel wall on either side of her helmet, his body pressed flush against hers.

Dagger looked up at him, his cheeks were flushed. From exertion or something else she could not tell. He looked down at her, eyes alight from the adrenaline of running all the way here. He could feel Dagger's strong muscles through his clothes. Oh shit he was entirely too close.

He realized this suddenly and deflected with a smile of mischief. He pushed off of the wall, breaking them apart as he spoke, "looks like I won."

Dagger scoffed as she followed where Echo was walking to now, "barely, but yes this time, you won. Now what are we training with today."

"I know you probably don't want to but I just want to show you that you can do it. Especially for missions I know it would make everyone, including myself, feel better if we trained with the high bars. Just to be prepared," Echo explained.

He didn't want to admit it, but he still thought about when Dagger fell a few weeks ago. The feeling of helplessness always settled into his gut. He hadn't been able to catch Dagger. Echo knew that he would never forgive himself if Dagger died because he couldn't hold on. So Echo would make sure that the rookie could do it, train him himself if he had to.

"I can do high bars, Echo," she said indignantly crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ok, then show me," he said as he gestured to the high bars. It was a lower and flat version of the apparatus that they had used in training that day.

She adjusted her gloves and jumped, easily grabbing hold of the first bar. She swung easily from one bar to the next. Her feet dangled just a foot from the ground, nothing like the high drop that she had faced last time.

Dagger had no issue crossing the bars and jumped down when she had reached the other side, "are you happy now?"

Echo stroked his chin, arms crossed, "again."

Dagger huffed but complied crossing back across the bars. Once she did that he led her over to the high bars that she had fallen from before. She glanced at Echo as he nodded at her encouragingly. She climbed to the first bar and swung out. She swung up the incline grasping each bar firmly before letting go of the one before.

Her heart started beating faster as she neared the top of the pyramid. She swallowed as she made the swing to the highest bar, right where she had slipped last time.

This time her hand connected solidly to the bar and she grabbed it and kept

moving. On the decline she relaxed slightly and finished the course without issue. When she dropped down she looked at Echo, "are you done testing me now?"

"You sound angry, are you angry?" Echo asked, holding his hands up slightly.

"You don't trust me to do my job. You think that I am going to mess up again."

"No. I do trust you Dagger. I just don't want you to get hurt," he says, "I'm sorry for upsetting you."

She just glared at him from under her helmet. She believed him, but she still wasn't happy about it. She turned and started to walk out of the training room, "whatever, lets go to the weight room. I could use a workout."

"Anything you want," he said as he trailed after Dagger, looking not unlike a lost puppy.

~B~

It was late in the evening, Dagger had snuck off once again to train. She had been lucky enough to get a workout in during the day. Now she could do some weapons training for her night time workout.

She knew she wouldn't be able to get to sleep anyway. So here she was in the training room again. She moved smoothly and quickly slashing back and forth with her dagger against the training dummy.

The silver toned metal glinted in the harsh white light of the training room. The ship was in night mode, meaning that fewer lights were on. She had to turn on the overheads and they beat down harshly on her sweaty skin.

She had been practicing for almost an hour now, going through every stance and movement that she knew. Even improvising at times based on possible enemy reactions that came up in the scenarios running through her head.

The dagger was a last option weapon. Blaster malfunction, no rifle, no grenades. The last line of defense against the enemy. She would rather have a weapon she could keep a hold of. She would fight to the bitter end against any adversary. She would rather die with a weapon in hand than go down unarmed.  
It was not in her nature to lay down quietly. So, she trained. Daggers were unconventional weapons among the GAR troopers, but they were not banned. This was one of her most prized possessions.

Some might think that it was sad, a standard issue dagger that wasn't anything special being a prized possession. To Dagger it was her life, her identity, her promise. Her promise to herself, to her brothers, to Jango, that she would always fight, always be brave. Kotep Runi.

She had proved before that she was brave and she would do it again and again. Dagger could face any challenge, any adversary. She vowed to herself that she would never back away from a fight.

With a final slash of her knife she kneeled on the ground. Panting heavily she leaned her weight forward on her knuckles. She sheathed her dagger on her thigh where it always sat before rising to go take her shower.

~B~

Tip toeing back into the barracks she slid the door closed behind her. She shuffled quietly to her bunk and was about to start climbing up when she glanced to her right and saw an illuminated face watching her.

Captain Rex was awake and using his data pad to file reports from the last mission. He hadn't even realized that Dagger wasn't asleep in his bunk with all of the lights off.

When she had left to go train an hour before, the Captain had still been in his office. Now they had both caught each other, awake after hours. Not necessarily doing things they should be.

Dagger, who had frozen the moment she had seen him looking at her, rocked on her heels, "so… what's up cap?"

"Where were you? Lights out was hours ago, I thought everyone was asleep," he whispered back.

"Couldn't sleep," the half lie felt bad on her tongue, "what are you doing awake?"

"I'm filing reports from the mission," he responded.

"So we both should be asleep yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, lets just pretend that we both were asleep and we both go do that now," Dagger suggested.

"Are you giving me an order?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Never sir, just a request I suppose."

"Sounds like a plan kid," he said, clicking off the datapad and stashing it under his bunk.

"Not a kid," she said quickly as she scaled the ladder to her bunk.

"Would you rather rookie?" he shot back playfully.

"If you must," she said with an eye roll. She flopped down on her bed and the last thing she heard before she fell asleep was Rex chuckling softly.


	18. Chapter 18

For the first time that day Rex finally had a second to breath. He sat back into his office chair with a sigh. He had been running around like crazy trying to get everything loaded aboard for the mission and make sure everything was accounted for. He sat back, hands behind his head and his eyes closed.

Even though he was still his mind raced. Numbers, strategies, plans, and backup plans. The 501st was well on their way to a planet in the Outer Rim. Grievous had been spotted and the Jedi council had dispatched them to go try and capture the Seperatist slimebag.

Rex's moment of peace lasted for approximately 0.2 seconds and was absolutely shattered by the ear piercing wail of a siren blasting through the ship. The imminent attack alarm. His heart rate spiked and he was set off into action once more. He quickly dawned his helmet and raced for the armory.

As he ran, he checked in with the different squadrons within his battalion. The fighters were already gearing up and heading to their jets. The ground troopers were preparing for enemies breaching their defense, they would be posted around the ship. The medics were preparing the medbay to receive any injured.

Cricket was there at the armory quickly passing out everyone's blasters as they rushed through on their way to their battle stations. He spotted a blue lined helmet as he was exiting the room, now armed. He barked out an order for Echo to take his platoon and guard the lower level access port.

They dashed off, and Rex comm'd General Skywalker, "Sir, what's going on up there?"

"Ah Captain," he replied just a bit too cheerfully, "we are just making some friends."

"Is it Seppies, sir?"

"I don't think so. The hyperdrive glitched and somehow knocked us out of hyperspace. Right in front of a seperatist convoy, but we think that the ships have been taken by another hostile group," the Jedi answered.

"All troops have been sent to their battle stations. The Fighter squadron is gearing up now. Should be ready in under three minutes. Where do you want me General?"

"Come to the bridge, I want you and Ahsoka up here directing the battle while I go and take out these tin cans with the fighters," Rex could hear the padawan protest in the background just before the transmission cut off.

He grabbed his dual blasters and headed towards the bridge, maybe there he would get more answers about their attackers. The doors opened to reveal the bridge to him; Asoka was standing next to Admiral Yularen watching out over the observatory deck. Rex approached and greeted his superiors with a salute.

He watched the way that the Seperatist ships were responding to the attacks. Something about the situation seemed off, as if they were not performing to the usual separatist code.

"Who is commanding that lead ship?" he asked

The Admiral responded, "we were asking that very question, the attackers have yet to respond to our calls."

The three officers frowned, watching as the fighters made their way towards the lead ship. Laser bolts lit up the darkness of empty space, red and blue conflicting. The shields were holding well. No missiles had been used as of yet, just the blaster cannons.

This battle was sudden and confusing. They had randomly been knocked out of hyperspace and drawn into battle with a Seperatist convoy that wasn't acting like a Separatist convoy. Rex still didn't understand how a glitch could have caused the ship to stop in the middle of hyperspace. Something had to be wrong with the cruiser if that had happened. Perhaps a malfunction in the engines?

"Snips," came Anakin's voice from the communicator, "you're going to want to see this."

A holo projection popped up in front of them. It was a still grab from the command fighter that Anakin was piloting. The droids in the enemy's bridge seemed normal, except for the war paint on all of them. The most out of place thing was the flag hung behind the command chair.

"Zoom in. What is that symbol? It's not seppie," Commander Tano ordered.

"That's a Death Watch flag," stated Admiral Yularen, "what in the world are they doing on that ship?"

Sure enough there was the Death Watch symbol on the flag at the back of the Seperatist bridge. The image zoomed back out and they could see a few humanoids in the bridge, one sitting on the command chair.

"Isn't attacking a ship of this class a bit out of their league? I thought they were Mandalorian terrorists" Rex asked.

"I thought so too, but they seem to have captured an entire separatist fleet, I don't think that they particularly care how big their opponent is right now," Skywalker piped in from the still open comm channel.

"Well this will be the last time they think like that. Let's take em down boys," Ashoka said, hitting her fist into her palm.

Rex smiled at her resolve and observed as the battle was waged. With the Admiral, General, and Commander all participating and commanding this battle there wasn't much he was doing. So he put his attention on his troops. He shuffled people from post to post, moving many of them to the main hangar to assist with the few fighters who were starting to come in with minor damages. No one had been hurt so far, he hoped it stayed that way.

Lasers were being fired at the attacking ships. Fighters and Vulture droids were zooming through the space between the Republic and the Separatist ships. While the tactics were skilled, they did not seem to be a match for the practiced expertise that the GAR held.

Missiles were armed and aimed at the Resolute. Alarms wailed through the air. Rex shouted for the shields to be directed to the front of the cruiser. Just in time too, the shield blocked most of the missiles. One or two made it through the shield and hit the front of the ship. No hull breach but damage was damage.

The Republic was quick to respond with missiles of their own. The General wanted to question the leaders of the fleet so they targeted the engines. The attempt to cripple the ships drew their attention away from launching more missiles at the Republic fleet.

Soon the enemy gunners were taken out, the droids were blown to pieces. This seemed to convince the attackers to answer the Republic's transmissions.

The holopad lit up and showed a Mandalorian in full armor, Ashoka was the first to speak, "we have you beaten. Surrender."

"That is not the way of the Mandalore. Don't you want to know who we are?" the man asked with a cool and even tone. This was not the voice of a man who had been beaten at all.

Rex took the short pause to assess the man who spoke over the holochanel. He wore grey Mandalorian armor that had obviously seen many battles if the blaster marks were anything to go off of. The helmet was the same gunmetal grey with markings painted above the narrow T-visor. The paintings on the helmet were not unlike the Jaig eyes on Rex's own helmet.

Jai'galaara'la, the Shriek-Hawk. He remembered learning about the Shriek-Hawk when being trained on Kamino. The Mandalorians who trained the officers and Rex himself had told them about the symbol. Given to him for Battle Honor. He wore his markings with pride.

Rex was unsettled seeing the Hawk as the symbol of the Death Watch. They were terrorists, bringers of chaos. They did not want peace for their people and actively tried to disrupt it. To Rex that was anything but honorable.

"I know all I need to, terrorist scum," Ashoka hissed back, calling Rex's attention back to the conversation.

"Well, I think introductions are in order anyway. I am Pre Vizsla, leader of the Death Watch. These ships were a gift from our Separatist friends. I am glad to have met you. We will see each other again, mark my words. Especially you Captain Rex, take care of your little clone friends," with that he cut off the transmission.

"Well that was short, guess he isn't the monologuing type," Ashoka said dryly.

A new alarm blared and shouting erupted all around the bridge. Lights flashed and the commotion was deafening. Everyone in the command center was moving and doing something. People were yelling for the fighters to fall back to the Resolute immediately.

Even with all of this happening, Rex's world had stuttered. Trapped for just a moment with his own thoughts. Why would that man have known his name, and what did he mean when he said they would see each other again? If he harmed any of his brothers there would be hell to pay. The way that the Mandalorian had looked right at him gave Rex a bad feeling about what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you soooooo so much for all of the reviews. Every single one of them makes my heart happy. I love the theories you guys are coming up with for the story. It means the world to me that you would take the time out of your day to read my story and leave a comment. I hope that you keep enjoying it, more action and fun to come!


	19. Chapter 19

"Sir! The enemy is engaging their hyperdrive!" was the report that was received from a clone behind a monitor.

"In their condition they might blow up the whole ship!" the Admiral exclaimed, "All fighters fall back now!"

Rex watched intently, heart pounding as he watched the fighters zoom and weave themselves away from the ships to get away from the danger. He felt as if he was in the cockpit with them, he wanted more than anything to be out there with them, to protect them. From the cold control room he was helpless.

Alarms were still ringing and the moment that the last fighter landed in the hangar the shields were raised. Just in time too because the Death Watch fleet jumped to lightspeed. Two of the support ships with damaged engines were immediately obliterated by the action. They had tried to use a broken engine and it just exploded.

A shocking explosion of light and a concussive shock wave rippled from the wreckage. The shock wave was headed right towards the Resolute carrying an alarming amount of debris with it. Everyone was already hunkered down before the Admiral yelled for them to brace for impact.

Everything shook as the blast hit the ship. Shrapnel was speared right through the shields and into the hull of the Resolute. The alarm stopped and everything went dark for a moment before the ship was lit up in a red glow. The emergency power.

"Great, now _we_ have a broken ship," Ahsoka said, crossing her arms.

"The lead ship got away, but we need to get everything up and running before any real Separatists find us," Rex answered. He excused himself quickly to go rally his troops in the hangar. He needed to get a headcount to make sure everyone was accounted for and safe.

It seemed as if any of the shrapnel that had breached didn't compromise any air locks. But there was still damage and he feared for the safety of his troops.

By the time he got to the hanger Appo had already formed everyone into their companies. He quickly reported the accountability to the Captain and fell into the back of his platoon.

As they stood at ease Rex gave them a condensed briefing of what had happened to keep them updated. They were to stand by while the repair droids did their work to fix the ship. They were soldiers, they surely wouldn't be much help to repair the ship.

He decided that they would do sweeps of the ship. The invasion of Kamino had been brought to his mind. The way that the Separatists had hidden their invasion force in the debris of their own ships falling from space. He worried that the Death Watch was up to more than what it seemed.

He assigned each platoon a level and sent them on their way. Rex would keep his commlink on and wanted frequent updates from anyone. They were to contact him at the first sign of something being off.

Affixing the headlights to their helmets, Echo led them to one of the lower levels that they had been assigned to check. The corridors were dark, not much light actually came from the emergency lights.

The helmet lights were helpful in showing the way. Circles of light systematically scanned the rooms. Dagger made a mental note that they were just below the main engine room. She wandered into a back corner, scanning all surfaces looking for damage more than intruders.

Even through her helmet filter the mass amounts of dust in the room still got through. She tried to crinkle her nose to avoid the inevitable. It was in vain. The sneeze was impressive, however everyone on the other end of the comm channel did not agree. She was met with grumbles and she quietly apologized.

Sniffing slightly, she smelled something that should definitely not be in a storage room like this. The smell of hyperfuel.

"Fives, come to the far right corner," she kept scanning for the source of the smell. By the time she heard his footsteps behind her she was looking up at the ceiling.

"What's up Dagg?"

They both turned to look at each other, but also forgot that they both had headlamps on their helmets. They both let out a groan when they were blinded by the other's lights. Turning away quickly Dagger saw spots in her eyes. Not cool.

Once she recovered she pointed at the six foot crack in the ceiling that was leaking fuel from the engine room.

"Oh that's not good at all," Fives said, he quickly switched comm channels to contact Rex, "Captain Rex this is Fives."

"Report."

"Sir, we have reason to believe that the ship's engine has been compromised. I'm looking at a crack in the ceiling under the engine room that is leaking fuel," Fives responded, switching between looking at Dagger and the massive crack in the ship.

There was silence for a moment on Rex's end and Fives was about to repeat his statement when he finally responded, "I'm sending maintenance to go check out the engine room. Make sure the leak on your floor is contained and not going to ignite."

"Very well," Fives disconnected the commlink then asked his unit, "anyone got a mop?"

Dagger chuckled and sat on a nearby crate, looked like they were going to be guarding an oil leak now, fun.

~B~

Yes, someone had found a mop and once the leak was stopped they were able to clean up the fuel spill. There was a lot of leaking and they were worried about the ship.

As it turns out, after hours of waiting, the entirety of the engine was compromised. The Resolute was stranded in deep space. Only running on minimal power, no shields, no lasers. The fighter squadron had taken up sitting in their jets as they would be the only defense for the star destroyer.

GAR headquarters and the Jedi council had been informed and were sending a space tug to rescue them and another battalion to guard them. The clones were all sent to their barracks and asked to wait there.

Dagger laid atop her bed while Echo laid underneath, on Commander Cody's old bunk. They were just talking when the durasteel doors slid open with a hiss and they heard boots stomping in. Both of their heads lifted to see who it was at the same time.

Captain Rex had just entered the barracks. Slowly, they turned their heads in unison to watch as he approached his bunk. He started shuffling through his belongings making a mess of the once organized drawers.

"Are you ok Captain," Dagger asked.

"Give me a minute Dagger," he responded gruffly, something had really gotten under his skin. Eventually he pulled a long distance communicator out of the back of his drawer.

He typed in a code and spoke into the mouthpiece, "Commander Cody come in, this is Captain Rex."

He waited, head against the frame of the bunk bed until he heard the response, "this is Commander Cody."

"Did you hear about this shit?"

"Who do you think is coming to rescue you, di'kut? You just couldn't handle being away from the 212th could you?"

"Don't sass me Cody, my entire unit is floating in space with no shields waiting for you."

"Yes I heard, Rex, we are going to be there soon, give us a few hours. We turned around as soon as we got the call and we are the closest ones to your position," the Commander, as always, was a voice of reason to Rex, "you are nowhere close to any planets, Seperatist or otherwise. There would be no reason for anyone to be near your position."

"We are going back to Coruscant," Rex almost mumbled.

The commander's laugh was almost startling and caused Rex to scowl, "when was the last time you had time away from the battlefield."

There was silence, so Cody continued, "it's been a long time, the battle will still be there by the time they fix the Resolute. You and your men need a break. So get your head out of your ass and be grateful for what you get. And keep your men out of trouble when you get planetside."

The call was disconnected with a click. Rex lifted his head and looked around. The only ones who acknowledged his presence were Dagger and Echo. Both in off duty clothes, the former still with the helmet.

"I've never been to Coruscant, Captain," Dagger said.

He tilted his head in consideration, "it's a lot different from everywhere else we have been. I'm sure you will like it, most everyone does."

Dagger looked over him carefully, "but not you sir?"

"No, I can't say that I like it all that much. I would just rather be fighting in the outer rim than clubhopping in the capitol."

"What did Death Watch want with us Captain?"

"I don't know Echo, but I don't like it. He- he knew my name. He said he would see us again. I don't like it."

"Meh, we can take some Death Watch goons. I mean who calls themselves that anyway. Like ooo we are the Death Watch we watch out for Deathly things," Dagger joked waving her hands around.

Rex put his head in his hands and groaned, "I really hope it turns out that simple Dagger. I really do."

**~B~**

**Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews. Please let me know what you think of the story!**


	20. Chapter 20

It took nearly two days, but now Dagger was walking off the transport ship onto a brand new planet. They had been brought to the GAR housing building, which was right next to headquarters. The skyscraper was big enough to hold half of the clone army in it at once.

Checking in was an absolute nightmare. General Skywalker and Commander Ashoka were nowhere to be found. There were two workers at the front desk and a few hundred soldiers waiting in the lobby waiting for their serial number to be called. Rex was standing dutifully next to the desk. Shuffling his men into a line to be ready as soon as the receptionist was ready.

Dagger didn't understand why they couldn't just give them a block of floors and then get the rosters reported down later. Apparently every clone had to be assigned a barracks room and they were required to stay in that room.

There were only one or two other units in the building, none of whom Dagger knew. So most of the space was open for residence. She had been lucky enough to grab one of the few chairs in the lobby and was sitting with her bag of belongings under her feet.

She leaned back and closed her eyes. They were checking everyone in by numbers and since she was the youngest she had the highest number. It was too loud to sleep, and she was worried someone would try to draw on her helmet if she did end up dozing off. So she just sat in silence, Echo and Fives had already been assigned rooms and had left with the promise to come and find her later.

Hours, and she really means hours later, her name was finally called. Rex looked like he was one push away from pulling his incredibly short hair out. She gave him a small nod as she gave her ID card to the receptionist who scanned it and gave the card access to a specific room.

"You will be staying on floor 240 in room 24015, your card will open the door as well as allow you access to the building. There is no building curfew, but if your commanding officers assign one they will have access to the log to see when you enter and leave the building. There are dining halls every 60 floors and gyms every 40 floors. Do you have any questions?"

Dagger shook her head, taking her card back she chouldered her pack and looked to her Captain. He nodded and told her to wait by the elevator, he would help her find her room as soon as he got checked in himself.

Soon enough they were in the elevator listening to the quiet radio music that played in it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him glancing at her every few floors. She looked back at him and he kept studying her. It was making her nervous.

"Did I do something wrong sir?" she asked.

"How did you get assigned an officer's room?" he responded bluntly.

"I what!?" she exclaimed, she had no idea that she was assigned an officer's room.

"Floors above 220 are for officers, single room quarters. I'm just wondering why you were assigned to one," he said.

Dagger was practically vibrating, "am I going to get in trouble? I'm not an officer. Why did I get put in one of those rooms?"

"Hey relax Dagger, you aren't going to get in trouble. Sometimes they just make mistakes. You're in the room right next to me, so if anyone gives you trouble, just come to me and I'll sort them out."

She let out a sigh, "ok."

Then she had a thought, "hey Captain? If officers are supposed to have their own rooms, why do you sleep in the barracks with everyone else on the Resolute?"

He looked at her again, "I don't like being different from the unit. I may be your captain, but that doesn't make me better than anyone of you. I don't think I deserve any special treatment that you and the rest of Torrent don't get."

"But Captain you are special. You are the best one in the 501st, thats why you are the captain," she wasn't quite understanding his logic.

He smiled and leaned in a little closer, "I also don't like sleeping alone, just a little too quiet for my taste."

She nodded and soon enough the elevator stopped and they exited into the hallway turning right towards their rooms. Just as Rex had said, their rooms were right next to each other. Dagger nodded her thanks to the captain and tapped her ID card to the reader and the door slid open.

As she stepped inside the lights turned on automatically. She was shocked by the room, it was plain in terms of decoration, but it was incredibly clean. One bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and a desk. She ignored all of that going straight to the large window along the back wall. She could see for miles and miles along the clouds skyscrapers popping up sporadically.

It was almost night time and the sunset painted the clouds in brilliant oranges. She sat and watched the beautiful sight for a long time. Dagger didn't realize just how beautiful Coruscant was.

Soon enough the brilliant reds and oranges faded into deep violets and blues. A familiar darkness spotted with stars. She closed the curtains and turned to look at the rest of the room.

Dagger gasped when she realized that she had her own bathroom. She could shower whenever she wanted without having to worry about others finding her.

Putting all of her belongings away in the drawers she decided to use the tablet to look up her credits. Clone pay was minimal, even less than minimum wage in the core worlds, but since they never had to pay for anything themselves they were able to save it all for when they ended up in the core worlds.

She remembered her first day with the 501st when Echo said he would take her to go buy a nice dagger. She wondered if he still would. Just as she was about to comm Echo there was a message on her tablet.

Captain Rex ordered a meeting in 20 minutes in the training room on floor 50. He needed to brief everyone on procedures planetside and what they were and were not allowed to do.

Dagger checked to see that her helmet was secure and headed out the door. She was waiting for the elevator when she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. Turning quickly, her hand flew to the hilt of her dagger, she saw that it was in fact her captain.

He chuckled, "I sent out that message 30 seconds ago. You sure do like to be punctual don't you."

She let out a nervous laugh in response, "Well I didn't know if you were already there."

"Rushing out to come spend time with me then?"

Dagger's face heated up at the comment and she stuttered trying to respond, "wait. No, not like t- that sir. I didn't, I mean I wouldn't. N-no."

He smirked and leaned in, "hey, I'm just messing with you."

She took a deep breath and looked away for a second, letting out another laugh she rubbed the back of her neck, "yeah, I knew that."

The doors finally opened and they stepped into the elevator. As it started to descend he asked her a question, "so what do you think about curfew?"

"What do you mean sir?"

"I mean do you think that the 501st can stay out of trouble without a curfew?"

"Of course, everyone in the 501st is respectful. They won't get into trouble," she responded honestly.

He chuckled, "I like your optimism. I trust you all in battle, but with our track record there is no way we are getting off this planet without at least one of us getting in trouble."

The elevator stopped at floor 80 and they were greeted with many familiar faces.

"Hey! Look Fives I found Dagger!" Echo said cheerfully, "And Captain, how are you doing?"

"Doing alright Echo," Rex responded.

"Hey guys, I was wondering where you ended up. You got sent out long before I did," Dagger said.

"Yup, floor 80, dorm 3. Where did they put you?"

"Floor 240," she said shyly, she didn't want to brag that she was in a room all by herself.

Echo let out a whoop, "damn you got lucky punk. Those high rooms must have a great view, and you get some privacy for once. You better remember us little guys on the low floors."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "shut up Echo, we both know putting me up there was just an accident. I could never forget my brothers, you sure wouldn't let me if I tried."

"Damn right I won't let you forget. You're my best friend," Echo said, slapping a hand across her back.

"Hey!" Fives protested.

Echo looped his arm around Fives' neck, "you too Vod."

Dagger laughed, looking back at Rex to see if he thought it was funny too. He had a slight grin upon his lips and it made her smile just a little bit more. They arrived at the training room and splintered off into groups.

Echo, Fives, and Dagger made their way to the side of the room where there was workout equipment set up. Dagger sat on the incline bench and the other two draped themselves across the bordering equipment. Joking and laughing about everything that had happened. Dagger found herself laughing more freely than she usually did. Something about this place made her more relaxed and more willing to be herself.

"I mean honestly, with your track record, how did you not set yourself on fire when you found all that fuel," Fives jabbed at Echo.

He put his hand to his chest in mock offense, "I will have you know that I have a great track record. I have only been on fire twice."

"Twice? That is double the amount of times I have been on fire Echo," Dagger laughed.

"Keep hanging out with him and that won't be the case for long," Fives said.

Echo went to protest when they all heard Captain Rex call everyone to fall into formation. The little group scrambled to get up and rushed over to the center of the room to find their spots within the ranks of their brothers.

As usual Rex stood in front of them all and waited for the accountability to be reported. When informed that everyone was present he started his briefing.

"Alright everyone, I'm sure you are all ready for dinner so I'll make this short. Most of you have been on R and R before, some of you have not. I don't know exactly how long we are going to be here, but it will probably be a few weeks while they fix the Resolute. If you go out, please take at least one brother with you. There will be no curfew."

There were a few hushed cheers at that, the Captain smiled and then continued, "Yes, you can thank Dagger for that, he convinced me that you all could be trusted. As always, do not add or subtract from the population and stay out of trouble when you can. We will be having training from 0900 to 1400 daily, other than that you can do whatever you want to. You are dismissed."

As soon as he dismissed them it was as if a herd of Loth Cats had been released. Everyone scattered and started cheering. Dagger just stood still for a moment watching the chaos take place around her.

She turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Fives. He beckoned her to come with them as he held Echo back by the shirt collar. They were going to the dining hall and wanted her to come with them.

Dagger let herself be pulled along, slowing down when they neared the door to look back. Rex still stood where he was, watching everyone leave. His head turned to her as she looked at him. She gave him a wave and he nodded back.

Then she was pulled out of the door. The dining hall in the GAR barracks was almost identical to the one on the Resolute. The food looked a lot more colorful than the rations that they got on the ship. There were more fruits, meat, and oh! Was that dessert? There was so much of it. She went through the line with her friends filling up her plate with so much food.

She even sat with them for a few minutes before taking her food back to her room. In the elevator she could smell the food and it made her stomach growl. She almost ran from the elevator to her room. When she got inside she took her helmet off and practically inhaled her food. This was the best dinner she had ever had. When she was done she commed Echo and Fives to tell them that she was going to go to bed early. They understood and agreed to get together tomorrow to go out.

~B~

Dagger did lay down, but didn't plan to stay asleep for long. There were seven gyms in the entire building. She would be able to find at least one that was empty to train in at night. Five hours of training a day wouldn't be enough for her to keep improving. Not the way she wanted at least.

After a quick nap she checked her crono, it was almost midnight. She got dressed to workout. After putting on her helmet she slipped out her door walking quietly down the hall. She hopped Rex was sound asleep and her footsteps wouldn't wake him.

Dagger hesitated when she reached the elevators, she peered down the hall and saw a stairwell. She decided to climb the steps to the top gym on floor 280. Sure she could go to the gym that was on her floor but she didn't want to risk Rex walking by and seeing her in there. She wanted to be able to practice without her helmet.

Her feet pounded up the stairs, might as well make a workout of it. Forty flights of stairs ended up being a lot more than she had thought that they were. By the time she reached 280 she was panting.

After entering the gym and seeing that it was in fact clear of anyone else she took off her helmet and took a deep breath. She set her helmet on a counter on top of the towel she had brought.

She started stretching before going to the weight rack. Picking up the dumbells she started going through reps of exercises.

Over the past few weeks she had seen a lot of improvement in her muscle structure. She figured that if she could build up more muscle mass she wouldn't look as out of place even with her short height.

Everyone was different in that category. Everyone was well muscled but some to more of an extreme than others. Echo had more lean arms while Rex seemed to have some of the biggest arm muscles in the unit. He certainly didn't take it easy on gym days. If Dagger were to bet, she would say that the rest of him would probably match in muscle tone.

Shaking her head she chided herself, she really shouldn't be thinking about how much muscle her Captain had. It was none of her business.

She just focused on what she was doing and tried to think of things other than Rex's arms. Inevitably her mind just brought her back to him helping her on that first mission on the ship carrier. He had let her hold on to his arm when she couldn't reach the arm holds to avoid falling over again.

She placed the weights back on the rack and worked on some body weight exercises. With her feet tucked under a rack she did situps until her back ached from hitting the mat so many times. Then she did pull ups until her arms trembled. Lowering herself back to the ground she grabbed her towel, throwing it over her shoulder.

For the first time in a long time she actually looked at her reflection in the mirrored wall of the gym. She usually had very little time to shower aboard the Resolute, much less have time to look in the mirror. She let out a sigh, she really hated her face. All she wanted was to look the same as all of her brothers. She was different in an army of people who all looked the same.

As she felt herself wishing for the impossible she made a funny face at her reflection. Feeling her spirits start to lift she pretended to be Hardcase. He always made muscles at himself in the mirror. She flexed and posed for a minute laughing at herself in the process.

On her way out the door she draped her towel over her head and grabbed her helmet deciding it wasn't worth the effort to put it back on and have to clean it later. She got in the elevator to go back down to her floor.

Dagger nodded her head to the music and patiently waited for the elevator to take her down. She was tired and ready for a shower. As soon as she got into her room she locked the door and started taking off her workout clothes. Standard issue shorts and the tan tee. Dumping them in a pile in the corner she grabbed her shower towel and headed into the shower.

She was pleasantly surprised when the water warmed up so quickly. Scrubbing the sweat and grime out of her hair and off of her body with haste, she was able to enjoy the warm water for a few minutes until she finally got out.

After drying off Dagger put on her sleep clothes and reached for her helmet. Then she realized she didn't need to wear it tonight. For the first time in a long time she laid her head down on her pillow and she could actually feel the pillow case. With a smile she snuggled under the covers and rubbed her cheek into the pillow.

~B~

Tada! I can't wait for you all to read this story arc, there is a lot that happens while the 501st is on Coruscant. Any guesses?


	21. Chapter 21

" _How many times must I teach you this lesson, clone?" came the hissing, disdainful voice._

" _Madam please, I didn't mean to disobey you. I only wanted to train some more," Dagger was pleading for her to understand._

" _Good clones don't sneak out after hours to train. Especially not when they have orders to stay in their bunk. Your discipline will be swift."_

_Dagger flinched from where she kneeled on the mat. The Madam had caught her training in the middle of the night. This was the second time this week that she had gotten caught. Dagger had thought that she would be pleased that she was training more. Nothing she ever did pleased the Madam._

_It was as if her entire existence was distasteful to her, which was likely true. She just wanted to be a good soldier, she didn't understand why she couldn't train more._

_She heard something slide across the floor and shuddered. She knew what that was. She knew that this time would be worse than last, she braced her hands on her thighs and gritted her teeth. This is what she got for disobeying, this is discipline._

She shot up in her bed with a gasp. Her eyes were slow to adjust to the dark room. She didn't remember where she was, her helmet was gone. Everything was so quiet, normally the soft snores of her brothers helped her sleep. She grabbed her dagger that was tucked under her pillow unsheathing it and holding it at the ready.

Dagger blinked rapidly, there was a light coming from under the doorway and she was able to see the lamp next to her and turn it on. As light filled the room she remembered that they were in the GAR barracks on Coruscant.

Talking a deep breath to relax her racing heart she put her dagger back in its sheath. She ran a hand down her face. She could feel a dream slipping away. She had no idea what it was, but it had obviously terrified her so she could take a at her crono she saw that it was only 0630. There was no way she was going to be able to get back to sleep. She donned her armor and made her way down to the nearest food court.

The durasteel doors slid open. She was surprised to see a few brothers in the dining hall when she entered. Three brothers sat at the same tabel all seeming to be talking over breakfast and early morning caf. One she knew was Rex, but the others she couldn't quite tell who they were. They had intricate grey markings on

Dagger walked around the edge of the room, trying to avoid the gaze of the other officers. She made her way across the line and quietly asked for the food she wanted. The cook happily placed the food on her tray, she thanked him and made her way back to the door.

"Well, well, you certainly aren't an officer," said the deep voice right in front of her. One of the grey painted clones had put himself right in her path. She looked up and her breath caught in her throat, there was a long scar across his right eye which was milky white.

"One of mine, Wolffe, don't antagonize him," Rex said from the other side of the table.

Wolffe let out a huff of air and returned to his seat, "you're no fun Rex."

"Training isn't until zero nine, what are you doing up?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same question sir," Dagger said, still holding her tray in front of her, facing the door.

The three laughed then the other clone, who hadn't been introduced, asked, "why don't you eat with us, trooper?"

Dagger's heart dropped, she wanted to stay and eat with them, but she still didn't trust anyone, especially not brothers she just met, with her secret. She shook her head, "thank you sir, but I really wouldn't want to intrude. Good morning, gentlemen. Captain, I will see you at training at zero nine."

Then before they could say anything more to her she walked quickly away. Once through the doors she let out a breath that she didn't realize that she had been holding.

Back in the dining hall, Wolffe and Sinker both looked at Rex. The Captain just shrugged, "that's Dagger, he doesn't mean any disrespect. He just doesn't take his helmet off around others."

"And that isn't suspicious to you?" Commander Wolffe asked.

Rex bristled at the question, "Dagger has been with my battalion for months and in that time he has never been anything other than loyal and hardworking. His first mission he saved Commander Cody's life. So if he wants to keep his helmet on I damn sure will let him."

Sinker held up his hands to placate Rex's anger, "we aren't questioning your men Rex. I forgot how protective you were of your troopers."

"There is a reason the 501st has one of the lowest loss ratios in the GAR. I protect my men at all costs, no matter the enemy," Rex reminded them, he was proud of that statistic. He hated losing men and he would do everything in his power to avoid the loss of lives.

"Anyway, did you see that new holo-movie that came out the other week?" Wolffe asked, changing the subject.

~B~

Everyone was in the training room before 0900 and as soon as the chrono hit 9 Rex was on them getting them started on training. First they would be working out, doing PT together, then they would spilt and work on battle skills.

Wasting no time he spurred them into a warm up run around the perimeter of the admittedly very large room.

The Captain set the pace at the front of the group as they all ran. Dagger ran near Echo and Fives, listening to them talk about what had happened last night. Apparently they were the only two in dorm 3 who didn't end up going out last night. She laughed as they tried to guilt trip her about not going out last night.

As they approached the end of their final lap, she promised to go out with them tonight on the condition that they take her to look at a knife shop. She loved her Dagger but she did want to see if she could get another. They agreed as long as she went with them to the club another night.

They all lined up in formation and did the exercises that Rex was telling them to do. By the time they were done with PT, Dagger swore that they had to have done 300 pushups. Her arms were killing her from working out last night and the exertion of today's workout.

They were split into two groups, one group was to work on sparring while the other would go do some blaster practice. They would have an hour for each training circuit. Rex assigned platoon leaders to go through specific drills for each circuit.

Dagger ended up sparring first and her partner was Cricket. He was as chatty as ever, for the most part she just ignored him and went about training. She was content to listen as he talked and talked.

She was itching to get to blaster practice. It was one of her favorite parts of training. It almost didn't come soon enough, and it definitely was over far too fast.

It seemed like the blink of an eye and the five hours of training that they had to do was already over. Dagger looked down as everyone started to leave. She dragged her feet as she made her way to the doors.

"Hey," someone called.

She turned and saw Captain Rex approaching, "are you ok? What's got your head down?"

She scuffed her boot on the duracreet floor, "I like training and I just don't want to go right now."

He let out a laugh, "you do seem like the gym rat type. Just because mandatory training is over doesn't mean that you have to leave. You can stay and train on your own as long as you like."

She perked up immediately, she didn't even realize that she would be allowed to stay. Dagger just figured that there would be other battalions who needed to use the gym themselves. She would have thought that she would have to sneak out every night still to avoid anyone seeing her train more.

Rex smiled as he saw Dagger do a little hop from foot to foot in excitement, "just don't wear yourself out too much kid. This is supposed to be R and R for the unit."

"I won't sir!" she said and immediately took off to jog around the room again. She liked running a lot and figured it would be a good time to do some extra cardio. Rex shook his head, that one sure was dedicated. He decided to go back to his own room to shower, he decided that he would come back later and check on Dagger.

He clipped his helmet to his belt and waited for the elevator. He mentally went through the other tasks he would have to do today. He was kept semi-out of the loop on the actual reconstruction of the Resolute, but that was one responsibility he was glad to be rid of.

He did have a meeting with Skywalker and Ahsoka in the evening. Maybe afterwards he would even go out. He hadn't had a proper drink in a long time and he thought it was probably due by now. With a smile he decided that, barring any emergency calls, he would go out tonight. Probably even ask the other officers on R and R if they wanted to go as well.

~B~

A little later than Rex wanted to admit, he remembered that he was going to go check on Dagger back in the gym. Oops. He jumped as soon as he realized that his newest trooper had been left unattended for far too long. He remembered the first time he let Cricket be alone for too long he got his head stuck in an air vent.

To this day he still does not know how he did that, but it took an ungodly amount of butter to get his head out. Sure Dagger was very different but Rex would bet that even the quietest clone he had ever seen would be able to get himself into a whole different problem set.

Rex jammed his finger into the elevator button willing it to get there faster, "c'mon, c'mon."

It felt like ages before he finally reached the gym floor. He tried to maintain his composure as he all but ran. To be honest, he trusted his men with his life on the battlefield. But unsupervised and without a mission, he didn't trust them not to break themselves or anything else. So he was a bit nervous about what he was going to find in that gym.

His racing heart stopped as he burst through the doors to see an empty room. There was no movement in the room and a single armored body lay on one of the mats in the back corner of the room. No movement, just laying there.

Holy shit.

This is it, the end of his career.

One of his troopers is dead.

Holy shit.

He ran as fast as he could to the back corner, where Dagger laid. Skidding to his knees he grabbed his shoulders and shook him, "Dagger! DAGGER! Don't you dare be dead!"

Dagger shot up with a gasp. She grabbed his arm, "Captain?! What happened? Who died?"

"What are you doing?" He yelled, very much startled by the trooper sitting up when he thought he was dead.

"I just laid down for a minute after my workout. What happened?"

Rex sat back on his legs holding his face in his hands. He had to take a few deep breaths before looking back up at Dagger, "I just saw you laying there and I thought you were dead."

"Captain," she held her hand to her heart, "I am offended to know that you think I would die without a pool of blood and smoking battle droids around me."

He let out a nervous chuckle, "you scare me Dagger. C'mon let's get you back to your room so you can take a shower. You smell awful."

She took his hand and stood up, "gee thanks, Captain."

Dagger stood, the combination of sore muscles and a sudden vertical ascent caused her to sway violently. She would have toppled over if she hadn't collided with Captain Rex. His hand came up to grab her arm as she let out a "whoa."

"Hey, are you alright? You look like you are about to pass out," he was concerned.

"I'm fine, just sore. I'm not that fragile, Captain," she said, gently pulling her arm out of his grasp and heading for the door, "just sore."

He nodded, still assessing the trooper, "I heard you leave your room in the middle of the night last night, but somehow I doubt that you actually left the building. I would be willing to bet that you went to go train. You know you don't have to train like crazy anytime, but especially when we are on R'n'R right?"

"I know, I just want to be able to keep up with the others. And I don't have anything else to do until tonight anyway. Echo and Fives are taking me out," she said excitedly.

Rex smiled, it was good that Dagger had made friends and that they would take him around Coruscant. Part of him was just a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go as well. But it wasn't his place, his was their superior. If he asked to come they would likely say yes because he was their captain, but if they actually wanted him to come was a different story.

"So where are you guys going to go" he asked to keep up the conversation as the elevator took them back to their floor.

"Well when I first joined the unit, Echo said he would take me to go look at knives and daggers if we ever got time off planetside. So they agreed to take me to a weapons shop tonight. They also wanted to go to a club, but that might have to wait until tomorrow," she explained.

"Careful if you do end up going to a club, it gets pretty crazy sometimes," he warned and she nodded her head.

They walked up to their doors and before they parted ways Rex stopped her, "hey, if you ever need someone to hang out with I'm just right next door ok? Might be better than running yourself into the ground with training."

She smiled, even though he couldn't see it, and nodded her head. Dagger then slipped into her room leaving Rex alone in the hallway contemplating what he had just said.


	22. Chapter 22

Dagger showed up to dorm three and burst through the door. She scoured the bunks to find both Echo and Fives asleep. They were sharing a bunk and the credits of a holofilm projected onto the ceiling above them. She laughed, they must have fallen asleep with the rest of the barracks practically empty.

With a wicked smile she threw herself onto the bed. She landed across both of their stomachs. They woke suddenly with startled shouts as the air left their bodies. From there on the brothers were a bunch of flailing limbs and confusion as they tried to figure out what happened.

They realized at the same time that it was Dagger who had woken them. With excited shouts and synchronized movement they grabbed her and lifted her up. A laugh escaped her as they wrestled around.

They played on the bed which was far too small. Fives in a headlock and Echo pinning Dagger, it was all a mess. One of their feet kicked out and hit the wall, sending them all toppling to the ground. They landed with an oof and all laughed.

"Great now that you are awake, you can get off!" Dagger exclaimed from the bottom of the pile.

Echo laughed and stood up. Fives followed him and pulled her to her feet, "so I take it you are ready to go?"

She nodded enthusiastically. Echo looped an arm around her shoulder and said, "then let's go, shorty."

"Hey! I'm not that short!" she protested.

As Fives finished pulling on jeans he grabbed her hand and led them over to the elevators, "yes you are, but that's ok. We'll keep you around anyway."

~B~

The trio walked through the streets of Coruscant. Her eyes darted to and fro underneath her helmet. There were so many colors, flashing neon signs everywhere. Sure it wasn't the cleanest place ever, but it had a certain charm.

She liked looking at all the shops as they passed. There were jewelry stores, restaurants, even clothing stores. She wondered what it would be like to go shopping for clothes. Not standard issue ones, not even male clothes.

Dagger had seen other females, even Commander Tano, but she had never had clothes for herself. She blushed at the thought of herself in girl's clothes. What would she look like? She wouldn't be able to show her friends, her brothers. She wondered what they would think.

If she was some other girl, not a trooper, just someone they saw passing on the street. What would he think of her? Would he think she was attractive? Before she could think about it any more she was pulled out of her thoughts.

Well, more like shaken out by two very excited clone troopers. Fives and Echo were practically vibrating out of their skin. They had arrived at the weapons store. One that apparently a lot of clones liked to visit.

"Well if it isn't the boys in white," the shopkeeper greeted warmly.

"Of the blue variety, too," Fives joked happily, "got any cool toys today?"

The shop keeper, an elderly human man, seemed to think for a second, "I think I might have something you would like Fives. And for you as well Echo. However, I haven't met you before. Might I ask your name, sir?"

Dagger squinted her eyes, surprised when he called them by name. He remembered them, even knew what kind of weapons they would like. She responded, "Dagger."

His eyes smiled happily, skin crinkling around the corners of his eyes. He grinned wide, "at last, I know just the thing to give you. Just give me a moment Dagger."

With that he disappeared into the back of the store. She turned to Echo, "he remembers you?"

Echo nodded enthusiastically, "Old Man Bean always remembers us. He's half the reason we come here."

"And because he always has the coolest gear in town," Fives interjected quickly. He held something that Dagger couldn't identify, but it sure looked like a weapon of some sort.

"He knows what stuff we are looking for, does a good job keeping everything in regs to be able to take them on the ship, even if we can't use 'em in the field," Echo said.

She hummed in acknowledgement. She rarely got to use her own dagger, only times when she trained alone in the middle of the night. However it was a permanent staple in her uniform, always tucked into its sheath along her thigh. It wasn't a particularly special dagger, it did the job though and it was one of her only possessions that was unique. The second most valuable to her, just after her helmet. She didn't realize that notion would soon change.

Old Man Bean came back into view carrying an antique looking box. She turned her head and strode closer to get a better look at it as he set it on the counter between them. There was an inscription on the aged but sturdy red wood. The box was about a foot long. She traced her fingertips over the runes embossed on the surface.

"Kotep runi" she breathed, she knew those words. From years ago, from her training. She hadn't seen them written out in a long time, she would have been surprised that she still remembered if it didn't mean so much to her.

Her first mentor had always told her the phrase, telling her that she needed to embody it. She needed to be that brave soul.

"Ahh, you can read Mando'a. I was wondering what it said. I think that you will quite enjoy what lies within, you and your brothers are Mandalorian after all," Old Man Bean said kindly. He did not rush, he could tell that the trooper was in a trance from just looking at the box.

Dagger flipped the latches and opened the box. Laying in plush royal purple velvet laid a gleaming dagger. The blade was a good size, maybe ten inches. The handle was wrapped in leather. Between the two laid the intricate hilt.

A skull of some sort, horns or tusks protruding out of the bottom slightly wrapping around the hilt. In the eye sockets laid matching purple gems. They were small, not big enough to hinder the use of the weapon, but enough that the dagger showed wealth.

She picked it up gently, running her hand along the dual edged blade. This was not ornamental she thought as a small cut formed along her fingertip. To cut with such light pressure this was a dangerous weapon indeed.

Old Man Bean smiled brightly at Dagger as she inspected it closely, in awe, "this is a Mandalorian blade, it is ancient. The beast portrayed in the hilt a Mythosaur, I have been told that the Mandalorians rode them long ago. No one has seen a Mythosaur in a very long time."

"How did you come by a dagger such as this," She asked admiring the silvertoned glint in the light. She had no idea what type of metal this was, but it was beautiful.

"A trade from someone from far away. He said that it was a family heirloom. It was passed down from parent to child for many generations. The traveler had lost their child, he did not say how. There was no one left to pass the blade onto and he could not bear to be reminded of it any longer. He made me promise to find a worthy warrior to give it to," he explained.

Her heart ached, "that's awful. To have all tradition, a lineage like that ended in such tragedy. I don't think I am worthy to carry such a blade."

Old Man Bean smiled, "I can tell a person's heart as soon as they walk into my store. I have held this dagger for years and have never seen a heart that is worthy of it, until you came into my store. Perfect is not what this dagger needs, it needs a brave soul. That is you."

Her chest swelled at the conviction with which he spoke his words, "I will strive to be worthy of this blade. How much for it?"

He held up his hand, "this blade is too precious. If I were to put a price on it I would be diminishing it's worth. The knowledge that the proud tradition it holds will be carried on is priceless."

Her shoulders slumped, why had he shown her if he would not sell it to her? He saw her become disheartened, "child never fear, I have not told you all of this to tease you. I made a promise to that traveler to never sell this blade. At his request I am gifting it to the one who is worthy of its power."

A small gasp escaped her. He couldn't possibly be willing to give this to her for nothing. To know that someone thought she was worthy of a dagger so precious, holding so much history. It was amazing, she was smiling from ear to ear.

"Thank you Mr. Bean, you have no idea how much this means," she said honestly.

His tone was somber and sincincere as he spoke, "I can only imagine. The Mandalorian are proud people. I know that if you were ever to come across the one who gave me this dagger he would approve of my decision. The hand that holds the dagger that was supposed to be his child's. He would approve of you carrying it in the child's place."

Dagger wanted to start crying on the spot. She wanted to ask a million questions about the origin of the dagger, about the traveler, about the Mandalorians. She settled for a thankful nod, placing the blade back into the rich velvet of the case and snapping it closed.

With the blade put away the moment had passed, she realized something, "I will need a sheath for it so I can carry it with me."

He nodded, "of course. Pick one that will suit it.'

He gestured over to the display of sheaths, some ornamental and some plane. Echo practically pounced on her, his mouth was running a mile a minute. He wanted to see her new dagger. He was just as excited about it as she was. He kept asking questions as she laughed at him.

While she studied the different sheaths and compared them with Echo. Fives held a pleasant conversation with Old Man Bean. The latter had just produced a pistol for Fives. The trooper was absolutely drooling over it. He had to have it, so he did in fact buy the pistol.

Echo on the other hand didn't actually want to buy anything today. Not even the long range rifle could convince him. He helped Dagger pick out a fitting sheath, high quality and secure but not flashy. She paid for it and they left the shop saying their goodbyes to Old Man Bean. He wished them well and requested that they visit him again next time they were on Coruscant. The tone in his voice was comforting, he seemed sure that they would all make it back.

~B~

Dagger called it a night after that, she headed back to the barracks with her box underarm. Fives accompanied her while Echo stayed out in search of a bar to get a drink and have a good time. She asked Fives if he wanted to hang out with her for the night, but he had already told Echo he would bring Jesse and Kix out to the club with them.

She understood, saying goodbye as he left the elevator on his floor. Dagger waited patiently while the elevator brought her to her floor. Almost there when the doors to the elevator opened.

Captain Rex, in casual clothes, entered, "hey Dagger."

"Sir," she greeted respectfully.

He turned his head to look Dagger over, "you can call me Rex, you know that right?"

She nodded and as they stepped out of the elevator together he continued, "what do you have there?"

Dagger grinned excitedly, not that he could see it from under her helmet. She held out the box to show him. He considered it carefully before speaking, "brave soul, mando'a. Where did you find this?"

"Look inside," she urged him on. She wanted to see what he thought of it. Would he approve? She wondered if he would think she was worthy of it as well, she hoped so.

The gasp of breath he took in when he opened the box made her giggle. That one action summed up her thoughts as well. He traced his fingers gently over the hilt as she held the box, "it's magnificent. It must have cost you a pretty penny."

"Actually," she then launched into telling him everything that had happened in the shop. He listened to her intently, he genuinely wanted to hear about what Dagger had to say. The trooper was just so excited about his new weapon that Rex felt happiness for him.

It seemed like minutes, but hours later they were still in the hallway sitting on the carpeted floor. They just talked, one conversation leading into another. Eventually Dagger started yawning, with a smile Rex stood. It was time to call it a night.

Before he slipped into his room he turned to Dagger one last time, "I think that the shop keeper made a good decision. You do deserve that dagger, Dagger."

With a short laugh, she thanked him and entered her room. Her cheeks were flaming at the praise. He thought she was worth the dagger, it made her happy that he approved. She went to bed that night with a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the amazing comments, I love all of the theories. I have quite a few things in the works for Dagger and the gang on Coruscant. I do hope you enjoy!


	23. Chapter 23

Dagger sat on her bed. Sunlight from the window streamed in. She had woken up with the sun and hadn't had any nightmares last night. She could barely remember the last time she had gotten a full night's rest. She felt great and she had decided to spend the morning in her bed until it was time for training.

Unable to keep her hands off it, she grabbed her new weapon and examined it closely. The leather bindings at the hilt looked worn and smooth. This had to have been used many times for there to be indents in the leather.

Etching at the base of the blade caught her attention. Small runes in Mando'a were carved into the blade, _Kotep'an,_ is what it said. Next to it was two sets of tally marks, one set of five followed by a set of four.

It looked like a last name and the generations who had the blade before her. It truly dawned on her then that this dagger was a family heirloom. One that had been passed down for nine generations before tragedy struck the family. Her heart ached for someone she had never even met.

She had her family, her brothers, but she had always wondered what it would be like to have more. To have a mother, a father. Jango Fett had been the closest thing he had to a father, but he couldn't be there all the time. He couldn't do everything.

She traced her finger lightly over those markings for a long time. It was almost an hour later when she pulled herself out of her thoughts and realized she had five minutes to get to training.

Dagger placed the blade in her thigh holster and secured it well. She had never had an issue with loosing her dagger before and she sure wasn't about to start now. With her helmet secured on her head she walked out her room and towards training.

~B~

She made a dozen excuses after training to Echo and Fives, they were trying to get her to go out with them to a club. She turned them down, stating that she was tired and she would go out with them tomorrow if that's what they wanted. The pair had reluctantly agreed.

Dagger knew she should be going out with her friends and she felt bad about lying to them, but she wanted a night to explore on her own. She wanted to see what it was like to be on her own, maybe even see what it was like to be a girl. Never in her life had she been able to be someone who wasn't hiding herself from the world. Dagger wanted one night to not worry about having her secret found, not worry about being a good soldier.

So she threw her cloak over her shoulders, pulling the hood over her head. Making sure she left all of her GAR uniform behind aside from her ID card and commlink she left the barracks. She needed the card so she could get back in at the end of the night.

Dagger walked down the sidewalk, unsure of what she would find but excited about the possibilities of everything. She smiled as she passed Old Man Bean's store and fondly recalled their previous excursion.

She almost felt bad about going out without Echo and Fives. After the thought came into her mind she shook her head. No. She wouldn't feel bad about having one night to herself. She would go out with them tomorrow if they asked again which she was sure they would.

Although she was doing this tonight rather than training. Maybe she would have to limit her nights out so that way she would be able to keep training. She wanted to try out her new dagger.

Stopping in front of a shop that had to be at least 20 blocks from the GAR barracks she lowered her hood. No one would recognize her, no one had followed her.

Dagger read the glowing neon sign in the window, "Astra's Boutique"

The clothes in the window looked interesting. She wondered if the clothing was for people going out for the night. Deciding to investigate she opened the door and entered the boutique.

Even though it was getting dark outside, the store was warmly lit and inviting. Dagger realized then that she had never been clothes shopping before, everything she owned was standard issue. What was she supposed to do?

With a slight frown she scanned over a rack of clothes, she couldn't quite determine if it was a top or a bottom. So many various items lined the racks, it was almost overwhelming. How would she know which one she should get?

"Hi! Welcome in! Is there anything I can help you with?" came a cheerful and feminine voice from behind her.

Dagger would be a liar if she were to say it hadn't startled her. Doing her best to not flinch she turned quickly to see who had spoken. It was a human girl! With a swallow she responded, "hi- um- I'm new to this world and I wanted to go to a club, but I don't know what to wear."

"Oh! How exciting! I bet we can find the perfect outfit for you. I'm Astra! What's your name?"

Dagger studied the girl for a moment, they were about the same height. Dark skin with wonderful purple and blue hair that curled tightly around her head in a bouncy way. Her eyes were a stunning grey color. With a small smile she responded, "I'm Dagger."

Astra quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her further into the store. Dagger was taken aback by the way the stranger touched her so easily. The energy she gave off was happy and excited.

Dagger was glad for the help because she had no idea what she was doing. She looked around and realized there was no one else in the store, "where is everyone?"

"It's just me right now. We are usually super slow around closing anyway. And I see that look, no I wasn't about to close before you got here so don't worry about keeping me here late."

Dagger just nodded. Astra riffled through a few racks of clothing, pulling out items seemingly at random before tossing them to Dagger for her to hold.

The trooper just stood still and held everything that she was given. She felt awkward and still but in all honesty she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. Once her arms were almost overflowing Astra stopped and ushered her to the back of the store.

Dagger stood outside of the small room that Astra had let her to and asked, "what do I do now?"

"Well you gotta try these on. How else will you know which dress you like?"

Dagger squinted, she repeated Astra's words to try and understand, "if I like the dress… Will it tell me?"

She laughed slightly, "wait, what?"

Dagger looked down embarrassed, the other girl obviously was going to think she was weird, "I'm sorry, I've never done this before."

Realization flashed in Astra's eyes, "oh, honey. No, no. It's ok. Don't be embarrassed. That's why I am here. Astra is going to take care of you."

The trooper laughed a little at the reference to herself in the third person, "thank you. Will you help me with these? I've never put on a dress. Or anything like this for that matter."

With a wink Astra entered the dressing room, "girl I got you."

She started taking clothes off the pile and hanging them up along the wall. Dagger quietly watched as the pretty fabrics shifted and shimmered in the light. She had never seen such beautiful clothing. It was all so soft and beautiful.

_It was feminine._

The thought almost startled her. Everything in her world, in her life, was masculine. She did everything with men, she even pretended to be one. She had never been given the opportunity to be feminine.

She started to bounce with excitement. Dagger wanted to be a girl. Not just physically, but be able to look and act like one. Even if it was just for the night. Astra noticed her quiet mood change and gently asked what she was so excited about.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Dagger asked in response.

"Girl of course. I've never leaked a secret in my life," Astra replied with sincerity.

"Ok, so this is going to sound crazy…."

Words tumbled out of her mouth and she couldn't have stopped them if she tried to. Astra listened intently and seemed to take it all in stride. When Dagger was done talking she nodded in understanding, "so you are a female clone, fighting in this war for the Republic. You have never been able to be a normal girl and now you want a fun night out to see what it is like?"

Dagger nodded sheepishly, Astra continued, "That has to be so hard to keep that kind of a secret from everyone close to you. Baby girl you are so strong."

She was practically gittering when Astra moved forward and enveloped her in a hug. Dagger froze as her hair was petted softly. Even though she had just met Dagger she felt a connection. The way she told her that secret, Astra could practically feel the stress of admitting it radiating off of her. She had a lot of interactions with clone troopers, but never had known a female one.

Astra decided right then and there that she would make sure Dagger had the best night of her life tonight. She would be the girl friend that Dagger never had.

After releasing her from the embrace, she set right to work getting Dagger to try on all of the clothes that she had picked out. She explained everything in detail making sure that she wasn't condescending about it.

With each dress she tried on she would turn to Astra and ask what she thought. She avoided the mirror when she could, she wasn't used to seeing her own reflection or face.

Astra noticed this and tried to coax her into telling her what she thought of each outfit. She took careful note of her body language with each new dress. She made sure to keep the conversation light and flowing. Dagger was quiet, but little by little she started to respond more.

Dagger's eyes lit up as she glanced in the mirror to see the dress Astra had just laced up for her. She recognized that look, Dagger liked this one.

The trooper twisted slightly to watch the skirt flow back and forth. The skirt was a beautiful light purple color that faded up to black where it connected to the corset type bodice. The black corset was modice with a high neckline, and with no sleeves her muscled arms were bare. The length was cute and fell just above the knee and didn't seem like it would rise too much when moving or dancing.

Dagger smiled, "I like this one best."

"I do too, now let's find you some shoes. I think boots will be best. Clubbing and heels never mix well," Astra advised as she pulled Dagger to the shoe section of the boutique.

Fitting Dagger with some short and stylish boots, and encouraged her to take a look in the mirror. The girl shyly admired her reflection. She felt normal and that was the craziest part.

She felt like a regular human girl, she looked like it too. Not a soldier with a secret. She felt like she wouldn't have to worry about anything because there was nothing to worry about. No one would recognize her like this.

Dagger went and grabbed her cloak, she dug through the pockets and asked, "how much do I owe you for the dress and boots?"

Astra smiled bright as she hummed playfully, "I think it's worth a drink."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm coming with you. I'm going to take you to my favorite club in town and you're going to buy me a drink," Astra explained.

Dagger felt her cheeks heat up, "y-you mean you want to come with me?"

Astra looped her arm through Dagger's and guided her out of the boutique, locking it behind her, "friends don't let friends go out on their own. No matter how new the friend."

Dagger smiled, "you are really nice Astra"

They chatted happily on the short walk to the club, Luna's is what it was called. Even from outside they could feel the base in the music pumping. Inside it was even louder and Dagger was blinded by the colorful lights. She stared in awe until Astra dragged her to the bar.

The bartender took her cloak, promising to take good care of it and made up two drinks for them. Astra whooped with joy when the bartender told her it was Lady's Night. Apparently, that meant that they were allowed unlimited rations of alcohol for free.

Dagger didn't understand how that was a good business model, but it made Astra happy. Therefore, she would accept it. She also accepted the bubbly green drink that Astra handed her. It tickled her nose as she drank, but the taste was pleasant enough.

"Have you ever drank before?" Astra asked as she leaned in to be heard over the thumping music.

"No, but I know what it does and I sure don't want to think about anything for the rest of the night," to prove her point she slammed the rest of her drink.

Astra laughed and swung her arm around Dagger's shoulders much like Echo often did, "don't worry, I'll take care of everything. You don't have to think at all if you don't want to."

Dagger smiled, it was short lived as she saw some clones walk into the club from across the room. Astra followed her line of sight and realized what had changed her mood so suddenly.

She quickly stepped in front of her line of sight so that Dagger had to look at her instead, "hey, don't worry about it. You said it yourself, they don't even know what you look like. I can guarantee that the only reason they would notice you is because you are so gorgeous. Just use a different name ok?"

The trooper looked at her skeptically, "ok I guess I'll be a Logan for tonight."

Astra rolled her eyes, "absolutely not. You pretend to be a dude your entire life and now you get a chance to pick a new name and you choose Logan? No. Tonight I'm calling you Lilah. Come on, let's go dance."

Dagger finished her drink and nodded. She allowed herself to be pulled into the mass of dancing people in the center of the club. She had never wanted to dance before, but now it was the only thing she wanted to do.

Observing Astra and the others around her she mimicked their motions. Her friend smiled as she started to sway. Despite what the Madam on Kamino had said, Dagger was a quick learner. It seemed that Dagger was a natural at dancing. A lot like martial arts or fighting she would turn her body gracefully swaying to and fro with the beat.

She closed her eyes and lifted her arms. The feeling of music pumping through the air and rolling over her skin was exhilarating. She felt safe even though she was surrounded by strangers, perhaps because she was surrounded by strangers. She had never met them before and she would never see these people again. There was no need to hide. Dagger could let the world see who she was and she loved it.

As it would seem, the world was watching. Those dancing closest to her would turn slightly, stealing subtle glances of the joyful way that she moved. A patron or two at the bar were delayed in their ordering of drinks because their attention was stolen by the way she danced with no inhibitions. The woman who danced with nothing to hide, with nothing to lose.

From one of the tables along the edge of the room a set of amber eyes were trapped. He barely even heard the music in the air, much less the conversation of those around him. He was entranced by the beauty on the dance floor.

Running a hand over his hair he studied the way she moved. She looked so familiar, yet he knew that he had never met the girl before. He sure wanted to, she was gorgeous. The way she danced seemed to call him. Like a siren singing to a sailor, he was trapped in her spell.

The man moved to stand, brushing off his friends who called for him to stay. Moving through the crowd he couldn't bring himself to look away. He made his way to her, he was drawn to the girl and he wanted to say hello.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the reviews. I love all of the theories and I hope that this story is everything you could ask for. I would love to know what you thought of this chapter or what you think will happen next. Thank you for taking the time to read my story it means more to me than you know.


	24. Chapter 24

A huge thank you to [Caramel604](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caramel604/pseuds/Caramel604) for this amazing fan art of Dagger and Astra. Please go look at their page to check out both pieces of fanart that they have made. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and as always thank you for reading and please comment your thoughts. Without further ado, here is chapter 24.

~B~

Even though Dagger was dancing without a care, Astra was still watched her surroundings. She spotted him as soon as he started towards the dancefloor. She knew he was watching Dagger. He didn't look predatory or malicious, he looked down right smitten with her.

Astra twirled in front of Dagger and asked her to go get them some more drinks for them. Dagger nodded in happy agreement and danced her way to the bar. Astra turned back around and found herself face to face with the man who had been approaching.

She pressed herself up against him to dance and she asked, "what's your name loverboy?"

He snapped out of his trance from watching Dagger and realized that he was dancing with someone who he had not intended. Clearing his throat he responded, "the names Rex, and you are?"

She smiled, "I'm Astra. What's a soldier like you doing in a place like this?"

"Just looking for a drink and a dance, nothing more," he replied honestly.

Nodding she looked around and saw Dagger taking shots at the bar with the female bartender. Good, she would be distracted while she danced with Rex. He seemed like a good fellow, most soldiers were, but she was sure that Dagger wouldn't want to have to be around her fellow soldiers on the one night she had to get away.

That's why she had sent her away. Sweet girl, she just wanted to keep her happy for the night. It seemed that Rex had noticed that they were there together as he leaned down and asked, "if I may ask, who was your friend?"

"That's Lilah, real looker isn't she?"

"You are quite the beauty yourself ma'am, both of you are," he responded politely.

She smirked seeing right through him, "I'm not the one who drew you all the way over here though? C'mon tell me what you think."

"She's beautiful," he sighed. Oh that poor boy, he was doomed and he didn't even know it.

"Maybe if you're lucky, she will come over and say hi," Astra knew that by now Dagger must have seen the clone that she was dancing with. Whether she knew him or not she didn't know, but she would be able to make her own decision if she wanted to rejoin them.

She was surprised to see that he actually knew what he was doing as he danced with her. His movements were smooth and he kept a close but respectful distance. He made for pleasant and light conversation between songs.

Astra was impressed, she had met a few clones before and he behaved much differently. Most of the time they were either looking for a hookup or a fight. Yet Rex seemed content to just dance. She watched as he slowly began to relax. He carried stress so naturally that she didn't even know it was there until it had lifted.

Soon another danced her way up to them. Dagger. She draped herself over Astra laughing, "I won Astra! Can you believe that?"

She laughed, "great job Lilah, this is Rex."

Being so close, she heard the girl take in a sharp breath, So she did know him. Dagger leaned in and whispered. Except whispered is a generous term and Dagger was very drunk, she might as well have shouted it, "he is really fuckin' hot."

Rex let out a snort of amusement and held out his hand to her, "it's good to meet you, Lilah."

She placed her hand in his with some rigidity. Instead of getting the shake she was expecting he dipped his head and brushed his lips upon her knuckles. Her cheeks flushed bright red.

She let out a nervous breath, "thank you sir."

Before he could even respond he was pounced on by other clones. They were drunk and laughing as they pulled him away. He held onto her hand for as long as he could before he was pulled back. Rex's eyes met hers one last time before he was lost in the crowd.

She stared after him as Astra told her that he said she was beautiful. If possible she blushed even harder. She looked up at Astra, "that is my captain."

Astra actually screeched, "girl don't play with me!"

She was laughing now, "I swear I'm not."

"He is so fine. I don't know how you do it. Come on I need another drink."

Dagger sighed, "he's nice too."

"You better tap that before someone else does," Astra said as she tipped her shot glass up and swallowed it in one go.

Dagger gasped and hit her arm playfully, "he is my superior! I can't just do that, he doesn't know that I am a girl. Besides I have never even been kissed before, much less tapped anyone."

"That is not how you use that expression, but you really are missing out."

Dagger rolled her eyes and transitioned the conversation to something else. Eventually they ended up on stools at the end of the bar. Talking, laughing, and drinking for hours. Even as the music slowly started to fade and the patrons of the club left they talked. They didn't see Rex for the rest of the night, even though Dagger wished he would come back.

It was so nice for Dagger to be able to talk to someone like her. She had found a friend. Someone, other than a brother, that she trusted. Astra had gone above and beyond from the moment they had met. Always genuine and always kind.

Dagger felt what it was like to have a friend, felt what it was like to be cared about by someone who didn't have to care about her. Of course she knew her brothers cared, but there was always that small part in her head that told her that they might not care about her. They had to care because she was a soldier. If they knew what she was she didn't think that they would care anymore.

She couldn't bring herself to believe that they cared about her just because she was worthy of being cared about. She couldn't have been more wrong, but she had no way to know that, all because she didn't ask.

~B~

Honestly it was a good thing Astra was such fast friends with Dagger, because she was absolutely hammered. She was laughing and having a great time, she felt more at ease than she could ever remember being before. Could she see or walk straight? Absolutely not.

She had a pretty good handle on herself for the first hour, but after that she was gone. Dagger laughed at even the smallest things and felt no inhibitions talking to Astra. It was a good thing that Rex hadn't stayed because she probably would have confessed to him on accident.

Astra, who had a much better handle on herself, pulled her to her feet and helped her out of the club. She snagged Dagger's cloak on the way out. Astra guided them down the street back to her shop before taking Dagger inside. Going up the steps to her loft she set her down in the living room.

"Dagger? Still with me girlie?"

"I'm doing great," she said with a dopey smile, "and honestly you are so pretty."

With a laugh Astra handed her a cup of water, "thank you sweetie, but I don't think you are in any shape to get back to your place on your own. Is there someone you can call to come get you?"

"Rex." she said resolutely.

"Ok, then let's call that cutie from the club and have him come get you."

Dagger's eyes slowly widened, "No! Don't call Rex. I don't have my helmet, he wouldn't know my voice."

Astra thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to get Dagger back to her barracks, "what if I call for you?"

"No, secure line, wouldn't work," Dagger shook her head, her eyelids were already starting to droop and her limbs felt so heavy.

"Honey, you look like you are about to pass out. I really should have cut your off earlier. Why don't you just stay here for the night and you can get back in the morning."

Dagger nodded sleepily and curled further into her chair. She protested when Astra pulled her up and brought her to the bedroom. After making her go to the bathroom and put on pajamas she tucked Dagger into the bed.

Astra looked down at the now passed out girl. Luck had smiled on Astra that day and brought this soldier into her life. A new friend, even if it was just temporary. She smiled and quietly closed the bedroom door, electing to sleep on the couch that night.

~B~

Rex woke up with a mild headache, he didn't regret going out last night or even the drinking. He had fun and was able to relax for a while. He allowed himself a few minutes to stay in bed after his alarm had woken him up, just thinking of the beautiful woman from last night. She really had been something else, and damn if Rex didn't have a type for females with muscles, anyone with muscles really.

With a sigh he got himself up and downed a cup of water before putting on training clothes. He sure was glad he made the plan for today's training before he went out last night. It wasn't a hard day, just cardio and weights to keep everyone in shape.

As he left for the elevator he considered waiting for Dagger, but dismissed the idea as he was probably already in the training room. Ever the punctual trooper, most of the time he was early for everything.

He rubbed his eyes a final time before exiting the elevator. Rex nodded, pleased that everyone was already formed up and waiting to begin. He asked Appo for accountability, more for protocol than for actually knowing the number.

No one ever missed training, even on R and R. He kept on walking towards the front as Appo spoke.

"Twenty nine of thirty sir, Dagger is unaccounted for," the statement made Rex stop dead in his tracks. The room went dead silent.

"Repeat accountability," he ordered quickly.

"Twenty nine of thirty, Dagger is unaccounted for sir."


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, there may not be an update this Friday because I am going out of town, I will try my best though. As always thank you for reading and please comment your thoughts. As a warning: this chapter does contain sensitive topics. Please be mindful when reading.

Astra woke up to the sound of a commlink blaring from the bedroom. She jumped up and moved as quickly as she could to see what was going on. The comm was on the bedside table and Dagger was still passed out in bed.

She took a deep breath and answered the call, "Dagger's commlink."

"Where is Dagger," oh boy, whoever it was, sounded like a bad combination of angry and worried.

"Asleep in my house, may I ask who this is?"

"This is Captain Rex of the Grand Army of the Republic, who are you?"

Astra hesitated, what did she say? She didn't want Dagger to get in trouble, she had to do something, "oh! Captain Rex, you weren't by any chance the handsome trooper I met last night at Luna's are you? I'm Astra."

She heard a few mumbled words exchanged too far away from the speaker for her to hear, but it seemed like there was more than just Captain Rex on his end of the call.

"Yes I remember. Why is Dagger with you? We didn't even know that he went out last night."

"I found Dagger at the club last night after you left my friend and I. We really hit it off and we came back to my place for the night. I sure hope I haven't caused any problems."

The noise she heard from the other side of the commlink sounded like Rex was going to blow a gasket. Then someone took the comm from him and a new but similar voice spoke to her, "hello . My name is Echo, I'm Dagger's partner. We appreciate that you looked after Dagger last night, but he really needs to come home now."

She sighed, "I'm sure he does, but when he wakes up he is going to have a hell of a hangover. Give me twenty minutes to wake him up and you can come get him or I will come to you."

"Thank you ma'am, we will be there in thirty minutes."

The communication channel closed before Astra could even give them her address, well they would figure it out. She turned to Dagger's still sleeping form, "they did not sound happy with you sweetheart."

She gently shook her awake and Dagger looked up at her with bleary eyes, "Astra? What happened?"

She laughed, "at what point Dagger?"

Dagger scrunched her forehead in confusion, thinking, "after we got to the bar?"

"Oh honey, there is so much that happened, but right now your pals are coming to pick you up and they are not happy. Something about you not showing up for training and no one knowing where you are."

Dagger's eyes went wide and she sprung out of bed, her head pounding as she did so. She stumbled as she frantically looked for her clothes and started pulling them on, "I don't have my helmet! I can't say anything! Where is my cloak? Oh no! Captain and Echo are gonna kill me."

Astra laughed handing her the cloak, "listen, I told them you got too drunk and stayed the night here. I think they were just upset because they didn't know where you were. Both of them seem to care a lot about you."

Dagger looked down, "will I see you again?"

With a smile Astra took her comm and started pressing buttons, "of course. This is my number and you can call any time you like. Now and when you leave. I will only call you Dagger, but I want to hear from you. And while you are still on Coruscant, you can find me here at the boutique."

Dagger nodded and quickly threw her arms around Astra, "thank you Astra. You are a wonderful person. I will call you, I promise. Right now I just have to hope I don't get murdered by my Captain for going out alone."

Astra nodded, "good luck Dagger."

Dagger pulled her hood over her head as a speeder car pulled up outside. The door opened and two armored clones climbed out, helmets on. Rex exited first and moved with a ruthless efficiency. He was pissed and his anger was evident in every move he made. Echo followed behind quickly, holding something in his hands behind his back.

Dagger couldn't tell if Echo was mad and that was almost worse. She watched the pair approach the door and Rex knocked on the door. Astra sent her an apologetic look and opened the door, allowing them inside.

When Captain Rex entered the doorway, Dagger deflated, he looked so tall and intimidating, she knew she was in trouble now. Rex didn't say anything but she could feel him glaring through his helmet at her.

Without turning he asked Astra, "he cause any trouble?"

"No Captain. Dagger was an amazing guest, we had a lot of fun last night," she said with a smirk.

Dagger wanted to shrivel up and die at what Astra was implying. She didn't want her captain and her friend to think that she was that kind of a person. Yet, she didn't have a choice. There were no other options than to just stay quiet.

Rex grunted at the statement but didn't say anything. Echo cleared his throat and stepped around the Captain when it was obvious that he wasn't going to say anything. He handed Dagger's helmet to her and whispered, "I'm glad you are safe."

His voice cracked when he spoke. She knew that he had been upset, she felt guilt clawing at her insides. She had made them worry, she was such an idiot. She should have known better.

She took the helmet and quickly went into the back room to secure it on her head. She immediately turned back around to rejoin the group.

With a nod to Astra she said, "thank you for everything ma'am."

"Stay safe, all of you," she replied with a smile as the troopers left the shop.

They climbed into the speeder, Rex first, then Dagger, and finally Echo. She kept her head down and was really trying her hardest to disappear into the seat behind her. She felt a twinge of sadness as she saw Astra wave from the front of her store as they left.

The ride was completely silent. Even the driver, who was usually so chatty knew to stay quiet. Anticipation for the reaming she was going to get felt like it was killing her.

She had finally done it this time, she had finally messed up bad enough that they were going to send her back to Kamino. Or at the very least reassign her to a different unit. Now she was really going to cry, she didn't want to leave.

She pulled her arms in tighter, trying to help fill the empty feeling in her heart. Trying to scream at her past self for being so stupid. Why didn't she just tell someone? Was it so important that she couldn't have just stayed in? It had been the best night of her life, but it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth the best people and the best days of her life.

Dagger promised herself that she would do anything to keep her spot in the 501st. She would fight for her position, any opportunity she got she would take. She couldn't let them down, she had to stay.

The speeder pulled up to the GAR barracks and they all filed out. As they approached the door, Rex came up from behind her and put a hand at the base of her neck under the lip of her helmet. He didn't put any pressure into the hold, but it was a clear signal. _Don't run because I will catch you._

Message received, she knew better than to run. Hadn't even thought of it as an option. She was used to punishment, she would be fine. The Madam on Kamino had been insistent with her training, mistakes were always quickly taken care of.

Dagger just hopped that they would punish her and let her stay afterwards. The elevator rose and so did her anxious fidgeting. The three of them ended up on the floor where Rex and Dagger had rooms.

Instead of going to either of those rooms they walked all the way to the end of the hallway to a small empty room. Rex's hand never left the back of her neck, there was no way he couldn't have felt her flinch when the door latched closed behind the three of them.

He released her and she turned to face him. Both troopers were looking at her, helmets on, arms crossed. She cast her eyes to the floor ready for what she assumed would be a punishment fitting for her misconduct.

She was startled when he spoke, his voice controlled but hiding anger, "you weren't at training this morning. No one knew where you were. We had to conduct a manhunt for you and were about to call in General Skywalker when we finally got through to your communicator. You were the one who told me that my unit can be trusted here on Coruscant. I want an explanation. _Now."_

"I am sorry, sir."

"I didn't ask for an apology. I want an explanation as to why you thought it was a good idea to go out on your own, without telling anyone," his voice and body were tense. She could feel his anger growing and she was quick to explain.

"Captain, I wanted to go out and see what it was like in the city. I wanted to go to a club and actually take off my helmet. I just wanted one night to be whoever I wanted to be."

He huffed and took off his helmet, voice rising he spoke again, "do you have any idea how irresponsible that is? You were alone and surrounded by strangers. This may be a Republic world, but not everyone here supports the war that we fight in. You could have been taken or killed. No one would have known what happened to you. Did you even think about that?"

He had been yelling, but what cut her to her core was when he whispered, "did you even think about what that would do to everyone who cares about you here?"

Her lip trembled and her head hung low, "no Captain. I didn't."

"You should have. I never would have thought it would have been you that would be a troublemaker. Do you understand what you did wrong?"

"Yes sir," her voice could barely be heard.

"So you understand that I have to assign discipline now, correct?"

She trembled, "yes sir."

Dagger sank to her knees on the floor. Palms turned up and shoulders hunched in submission. She knew what was coming. When she had been unable to complete tasks or meet standards on Kamino this is what would happen. If soldiers weren't good enough they would be disciplined until they were. The Madam always said it was the best way to train clones.

Echo looked at Rex for an explanation, Rex just looked back at him hoping that he knew what was going on. They had never seen anyone do that before. Usually they just waited for Rex to tell them how many blasters they had to clean while standing. Both honestly had no clue what Dagger was doing.

Rex's head tilted in confusion. He reached down to pull Dagger up and he flinched back. Almost as if he expected…

The Captain recalled his hand to his chest in shock. Dagger hadn't ever seen a field discipline before. Whatever he thought was about to happen was what he had learned on Kamino. The picture that was being painted in his mind was not turning out to be a pretty one.

He slowly kneeled in front of Dagger, took his helmet off in the process and clipped it to his belt, "Dagger, look at me."

She did as asked. She wondered why he was playing with her so much. Why couldn't he just get it over with and she can have more time to recover.

"I need you to be honest with me, soldier. What do you think your discipline is going to be?"

Now it was her turn to tilt her head in confusion, "when a clone is disobedient they are beaten until they comply. I broke the rules, I will take the punishment sir."

Both Rex and Echo sucked in a breath of surprise. Echo turned away and leaned against the wall muttering softly, "no Dagger no."

"You think I'm going to beat you, Dagger?" Rex asked, afraid, but needing to hear the answer. He kneeled in front of her, close enough to reach out, not close enough to be touching.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"I would never hurt you. I would never beat anyone in my command. No one should ever be beaten for disobedience, least of all something like this. Who hurt you?"

"The Madam, on Kamino. She always said it was the best way to get clones to follow orders. She said we would all be beaten into submission. I never got to be with the rest of my brothers during training, but she told me it was normal. I can take it sir."

Echo choked back a sob and Rex himself was fighting tears. How could anyone have been so cruel to Dagger? Separated from his brothers and beaten during training. There was no excuse for such cruelty.

One of their brothers had suffered so much and they hadn't even known. They didn't see. He thought that was just how it was, he couldn't have been more wrong.

Echo cursed over and over again, Dagger, his best friend. How could this have happened? He wanted to kill whoever had told that to Dagger, much less do it to him. His blood was boiling. He couldn't stay, he couldn't take it.

He knew the Kaminoans were cold, but even he didn't think they could be this cruel. He couldn't even look at Dagger, he just stormed out of the room. No. No! No one would ever hurt him again. He swore it on every star and deity he could name. Rex could take care of Dagger now, if he stayed he would just make everything worse.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Echo leave the room. She stared up at her Captain, still processing what he said. Did he mean it? Why was he looking at her like that?

Neither said a word, but Rex moved suddenly. He pulled her forward, off balance, and wrapped his arms around her. She fell forward and was practically laying in his lap. His breaths were shaky and she could feel his heart pounding in his chest from where her hand rested on him.

"That should have never happened to you. It will never happen again, this I swear to you. You should have never been beaten Dagger. That is not how we are trained. You are allowed to make mistakes, you don't have to be perfect all of the time."

She was starting to understand, "so you won't send me away?"

"Never," he said as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Captain."

"Don't be sorry, little one. You have nothing to apologize for," he spoke calmly, stroking her back.

"Captain Rex?"

"Just Rex," he corrected.

"Rex? I know that I have no place, but may I make a request?"

"What is it?"

"Can I look at your back?"

He didn't reply verbally, but he released Dagger from his arms. She took this as permission when he turned and kneeled oh both knees facing away from her. Gently she unclipped his back plate and placed it on the ground. She untucked the top half of his blacks.

Rex had no idea what Dagger was doing, but in this moment there was nothing that he could refuse from him. His mind was still reeling. Rex turned his head slightly to watch Dagger out of his peripherals.

Dagger took a breath before pulling the black shirt up to reveal a large expanse of tan skin. Pulled tight over toned muscles. Minor scars from battles forgotten littered the skin, one from a blaster wound. Other than that his skin was clear and unmarred. No thick scars slashing across his back. No marks from a past filled with pain inflicted by their creators.

She couldn't control herself, she slid her hands over his skin. As if she didn't believe the sight in front of her. He shivered slightly at the touch. She marveled at how smooth his back was, she could feel his powerful muscles under her fingertips.

She felt so happy she almost could cry, he hadn't been lying. Her brothers had not gone through her pain, for that she was thankful. High on happiness she was bold enough to make another request, "look forward?"

He did as asked and trained his eyes on the door. Rex didn't know how much this meant to Dagger or what he was doing. He focused even more on the door refusing to let his eyes wander when he heard the hiss of a helmet lock releasing. Dagger had just taken off his helmet, he would not betray that trust.

Whatever he had been thinking was about to happen is not what ended up happening. He gasped when he felt Dagger kiss his back. Then he continued to kiss his way up the spine, stopping at every vertebrae.

Like worship, his lips brushed Rex's skin, soft and gentle. Fingers feather light on his skin sending thrills into his body. He could feel Dagger's soft skin against his back, freshly shaven if he were to guess. Soft but shuddering breaths ghosting across his skin.

Rex leaned back unconsciously into the affectionate touches. He had never been touched so intimately, not in a way without ulterior motive. He'd gotten laid before, but those had always been quick one night stands. They never had any meaning.

This was different. Dagger had asked to touch him and he hadn't said no. He probably should have, seeing as he is the superior officer and he was supposed to be giving discipline at the moment. And yet it was the furthest thing from his mind.

Captain Rex had been turned into a pile of mush at the slightest touch from Dagger. He couldn't help it. When you live a life of battles and pain that is what you are used to. Kindness is startling and unexpected. Most of all kindness is never taken for granted.

All too soon, Dagger stopped kissing his back. He resisted the pull to turn around and look at his face. Rex's shoulders fell slightly when he heard the helmet go back on. He didn't speak as his shirt was gently lowered and he felt Dagger attach his back plate again.

When he rested a hand on his shoulder Rex finally turned back around. Dagger was once again sitting back on his knees. As if for the first time Rex studied his form.

Dagger was small, smaller than the rest of them at least. Toned muscles and an elegant form. He looked like an athlete, thick legs with corded muscles that were built to move. Slender arms compared to himself but still bulky with muscles.

"I'm sorry Captain," she spoke, just a little breathless.

"Don't be. Just please be careful."

She nodded, "so what are you going to do with me?"

"Just ground you really. Like the humans do. No leaving the tower without an escort for the next week. And if you leave at all for the rest of our stay you need to tell me where you are going and when you will be back."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir," she stood along with him and went to leave.

He stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. He struggled for several seconds to figure out what he wanted to say, "if anyone ever hurts you, I will kill them. No one will ever get away with that again."

She nodded, there was no doubt in her mind that he meant those words. Close to him she felt safe. And while she didn't feel unsafe around others, she felt safest close to him.


	26. Chapter 26

Echo had been pacing up and down the hallway while the Captain talked to Dagger. He couldn't take it in that room anymore and had needed to escape. He felt like he was suffocating, he felt nauseous.

Dagger had been beaten by his superiors. How could they have gotten away with that? Had Dagger really been alone during training? Why had he been singled out? Echo wondered if the reason Dagger had been trained alone was the same as why he never took off his helmet.

He would find that Madam that Dagger had mentioned. He would make her pay. He didn't know how but he would.

Echo was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Dagger finally exit the room where he and Rex had been. He walked quickly over to Dagger and wrapped him in a fierce hug. Dagger responded in kind and held him back tightly.

Dagger surprised him when she was the first to say something, "it's ok brother. It's in the past."

He was reassuring Echo, he thought comically. It should be the other way around. Before he could say anything a voice came from down the hall.

"Am I missing group hug time?"

Dagger peered around Echo's body and saw Five's smiling face as he walked closer. She let out a wet chuckle, the first indication that she was crying to herself and to others. Without letting go of Echo she extended her arms to Fives and Rex beckoning them in.

Within seconds she was surrounded. Bear hugs from all angles. She wouldn't call it bawling, but anyone who heard her would. The tears were flowing, nothing could stop it now. She had never felt so included, so safe. She had never been part of a family like this before and she loved them all so much.

Fives rubbed her back, "shhhh, it's ok kid. I don't know what you are crying about, but it's going to be ok. Unless Cap put you on bathroom duty, then maybe not."

She laughed, hiccuping slightly. They stood there for many minutes, no one wanted to move. When Dagger finally calmed down she wiggled, indicating that she wanted out.

"Thank you, thank you all," she said sincerely.

"You're going to be just fine, vod. Now go sleep off what has to be a killer hangover and remember what I said,'' Rex shooed her toward her door and waited until she was inside before dragging Echo and Fives into his own room.

Echo couldn't keep his face calm anymore and the mask he had been hiding behind fell. His anger surprised Fives, who was starting to realize that he had missed something very important.

"Captain we have to do something," Echo hissed, very aware that Dagger was on the other side of the wall and would be able to hear him if he wasn't careful.

"I know Echo," he shot right back, "we need to go up the chain of command. General Skywalker will be able to help."

"Great, let's go," Echo said quickly, ignoring Fives trying to ask what was going on.

"We need proof. General Skywalker would believe us, but that isn't going to be enough to get any results."

"How do we do that?"

"I think I have an idea, but I don't know if Dagger will be ok with it."

"Ok!" Fives said on the verge of shouting, "you two need to start explaining right now! What is going on? Why was Dagger crying? What did you do to him? And what are we going to General Skywalker for?"

Both men shared a look, neither wanting to say it outloud. Rex took the initiative, "we went to go get Dagger and brought him back. Then he did something really weird when I told him I would have to assign discipline."

"Did he try and run like Kix did that one time?"

"He kneeled," Rex stated, Fives squinted at that, trying to figure out why. He waited for Rex to continue.

"He kneeled and flinched away when I went to pull him back up. He-" his fists clenched- "he thought I was going to hit him. Thought that discipline meant beatings."

Fives face contorted into a scowl, "how could he think that? We don't beat our men."

"Because that was how he was trained on Kamino. He said that the Madam that trained him had beat him when he disobeyed or messed up."

"What?" He shouted, "how is that possible? Did his squadmates not stand up for him? General Shaak'Ti would never."

Echo put a hand on his shoulder to calm him, "I don't know Fives. He mentioned a Madam, not the General. I don't know if it was just his squad or if he didn't have a squad, but we need to get to the bottom of this. She won't get away with what she did."

"Damn right she won't. What can I do to help?"

Rex ran a hand over his hair, "I think Dagger has scars."

"Why do you think that Rex?"

"He asked to see my back. Dagger wanted to see and it felt like he was checking for something. I think that that monster scarred Dagger's back and he wanted to make sure that I was telling him the truth when I said that no one else had gone through that."

"Fuck, that bitch didn't just beat our Dagger, she physically mutilated his body as well. Damn Kaminoans think they can do whatever they want to us just because they made us," Fives spat.

"You let Dagger see your back?" Echo asked, knocking the conversation off track.

Rex shuffled his feet slightly, "he had just told us he had been beaten for mistakes as a trainee. I would have done anything he asked of me at that moment."

"Aww that's really cute Captain. Are you going soft on us?" Fives asked.

Rex growled playfully, shifting into a low sparring stance with his fists up, "get over here and I'll show you how soft I'm getting."

"Ooo, struck a nerve did I," Five joked, jumping away from Rex, "has Rex taken a shining to the newest 501st trooper?"

"Shut up Fives, he has been here for months," he said defensively.

"Echo what's the reg manual say about interpersonal relations?"

Echo, who looked very uncomfortable with the whole situation, responded curtly, "between commanders of other species, not allowed. Regs don't care about clones being with clones."

"Just because I let him touch my back doesn't mean that I want to date him. Dagger went through a lot, I was just helping where I could," Rex tried to defend himself.

That statement immediately backfired, "so you wouldn't mind if Echo or I were to ask Dagger out?"

Echo started choking on his tongue, face flushing bright red. Fives wore a shit eating grin and he saw Rex clench his jaw and his hands squeeze into fists. Just the thought angered him. He was slowly starting to realize that he didn't want to see Dagger with anyone else. He had no right, no claim to the trooper. But he still wanted him, he had never even admitted it to himself before.

This conversation was not going well. So, he finally responded, "wouldn't have taken you for the type to like guys, Fives."

"I like to keep my options open Rex. What's your excuse?"

"Couldn't care less what they got, only if they are a good person. Echo?"

"Yeah, we are all a mess, this is why they call the 501st the Bi Blue Boys."

"Wait, people really say that?" Rex asked incredulously. The tension dispersed and they all shared a laugh. It was short lived as they all seemed to remember at the same time what they had been originally talking about. Dagger.

"What are we going to do Captain?" Echo asked seriously.

"I'm going to see if I can't find Dagger's medical file. Kix might have a copy. I want to see if there is any evidence of incidents on Kamino where he got sent to the medbay because of it. If not, I will ask Dagger to take a picture of his scars, proof of abuse. The General won't be able to ignore that," he explained his plan.

Echo and Fives took that as their cue to leave. They were going to tell everyone that Dagger had returned safely. They promised to not mention what they had learned about Dagger's past.

Once the door shut, he sat on the edge of his bed. He looked at the chrono on the nightstand. How had so many things already happened and it was only noon?

Rex held his face in his hands, letting himself sink into his thoughts. Honestly? Fuck emotions. Once in a blue moon he wished he was a droid. This was one of those times. Droids didn't feel anything.

Today, he had felt too much. His stomach flipped and rolled as he ran through everything that had happened. Every emotion.

Panic. When he had realized that one of his troopers was missing. The feeling only rose when he realized it was the newest one. When he hadn't arrived at training and couldn't be reached on his communicator, Rex had immediately cancelled training. Instead he assigned everyone different sections of the building to search. He half expected and half wished for someone to find Dagger asleep in a gym like he had the day before.

Then the panic had risen when no one could find him in the building. One last call to Dagger before he went straight to General Skywalker. A stranger's voice had picked up and he almost went ballistic. If Echo hadn't been there to de-escalate his temper and he didn't remember the girl from last night he would have blown for sure.

Anger. The feeling that had sunk in on the way to the shop Dagger had stayed the night at. Evidently it had been an eventful night if Astra's comments were to be believed. The entire 501st had been none the wiser as Dagger had been out by himself picking up girls.

The part that made him angriest was that Dagger trusted complete strangers to see his face and not his own brothers. Astra had found him at the same club he had been at. The realization might have floored him on a day not as crazy as this. He could have seen Dagger's face in passing and not known it, assuming it was just another trooper in the bar.

Duty. A strange emotion to feel in the middle of everything. He knew that he couldn't stay mad for long, but Dagger hadn't needed to know that. He had just planned to give him blaster cleaning for a week like he would anyone else. Honestly this wasn't the first time he had to ground someone while on R&R. Somone always did something stupid. That's why he let Echo tag along. Everything was supposed to be routine and he was Dagger's partner after all.

Confusion. Dagger had suddenly sunk to his knees and into a submissive posture. Rex almost thought that he was messing with him. He knew that wasn't the case when he flinched away.

Horror. When he asked Dagger what he thought was about to happen. He had spoken so blatantly, as if it were part of normal life. As if the wretched and awful abuse he suffered were as commonplace as stars in the sky. Dagger thought that everyone was beaten during training. Evidently he had no one else to compare to.

Shock. When Dagger had run his hands up and down his back. Checking for scars was the only thing that he could think of that he was doing. He was even more shocked when he took off his helmet and brushed his lips over Rex's skin. Just thinking of it set his skin on fire.

Peace. The tenderness of the touch was tantalizing. He wanted more of what he knew he couldn't have. He hadn't told the others about that part. He told them of the touch, not the kisses. He didn't quite understand it himself, but he was not about to share the memory with anyone else.

Protectiveness had been the next emotion to take over him. He wanted nothing more than to put Dagger in an impossible bubble and keep him from the rest of the world. He knew that would never happen and he couldn't ask that of a soldier. So he had decided on the next best thing.

Determination. He knew that he would keep his word to Dagger, he would kill anyone who ever dared to hurt him. It was also the feeling he felt when he had been going over the plan with Echo and Fives. They would get justice for their friend, their fellow trooper, their brother. They would find who did this and they would be sure they got what they deserved.

He thought he was done cataloging all of his emotions from the day, but the last one slammed him out of nowhere.

Jealousy. When Fives had asked if he or Echo could make a move on Dagger. He knew it was a joke. A jibe to get under his skin. Trying to get a reaction out of him, that's just what Fives did. But the thought had sent him into an internalized jealous rage. He wanted to claim Dagger for his own and make sure everyone knew it.

He had never realized how strongly he had felt about the trooper until the moment when someone else expressed interest. Fuck. He was an awful di'kuit. He had no right to Dagger and had to let him decide who he wanted to be with, if any of them.

Dagger might not even like males. Some clones thought it was weird, but for the most part no one cared what everyone did. They were all clones of the same person, how much weirder would it honestly be if they dated? Not much. Also living day in and day out with males was obviously going to turn some of them bisexual, gay or somewhere in between.

There was one thing they every single clone could agree on. Every single one of them had a choice and it would be respected. A brother's first kiss and first lay were two things that should never be forced. They should get to choose who and if they want to do so. God help anyone who forced themselves on a brother, even just as a first kiss.

They would surely be torn to pieces by the unit for taking a brother's first kiss without consent. If they took the first lay, they would be murdered. No question. It was just something that you didn't do. Rex had heard rumors from the early days of the war when a brother was found raping another. Blood had run through the halls of that star ship. Painting the walls with a criminal's blood. The message was a promise of protection to the brother who was wronged.

Rex knew that he could never do that to anyone, especially not a brother. Right now he really didn't know what to do about his feelings for Dagger. So he did what any rational Captain would do. He buried it down deep inside and hoped that he would forget about it. Nothing came from hopeless crushes anyway.


	27. Chapter 27

He tracked down Kix, who ended up being in the Jedi temple taking a class with younglings from the Jedi healers. Rex had been invited in and saw Kix excitedly waving him over. The medic sat at the back on a pillow as the younglings were. He listened intently to the Jedi healer. The Jedi had been very kind to extend an invitation to the medics of the 501st.

Corric was busy training the new medic and Kix had enthusiastically wanted to go. So that is where he found the medic. Sitting in a classroom like a trainee again, learning new techniques from the Jedi.

Rex leaned patiently against the back wall. He waited for the class to be done. As soon as the padawans, and Kix, were dismissed the medic bounded up to his Captain.

He started chattering excitedly about everything he had learned and how it was going to help him save more brothers in the field. Rex smiled and allowed him to talk while they started to walk down the hall. He figured if he was going to drop this depressing bomb on the medic he could at least let him have this happiness for a minute.

He asked questions when he could figure out what he was talking about. Which was not often, Kix had a habit of going so far in detail that non medically trained clones could not understand.

Kix, however, was not unreasonable. He knew that the Captain had not come to find him to listen about his new training. So he finished his thought before getting serious, "so what did you come to me for, Captain?"

"You have access to the medical files of the unit. I need to look at Dagger's medical file from Kamino," he stated.

Kix stopped momentarily, "Dagger? Is everything ok sir?"

"Yes Kix, but it would be really helpful if I could see those files. Or even any files of his squad mates during training," he explained without really telling the medic what was going on.

He nodded as he thought for a moment, "if I do have access to the file we can look for it in the Jedi library. Nu said that I could come in anytime I like. We talk a lot about medicine."

Rex did not protest and followed Kix to the library. At the computer, he logged in and started typing. He pulled up Dagger's medical file, then he turned to the Captain, "sir, what is this about? This file is from a long time ago on Kamino and is heavily redacted. What are you looking for?"

"I think that something happened to Dagger during training. I intend to find out what happened and make a wrong turn right."

"Ok, here goes nothing," with a click he had the file opened. There was no picture of Dagger's face, and many of the description lines were blacked out. Yet the file was more pages than a usual Kamino training file.

Kix clicked the tab that was labeled 'Medbay Entries'. There were many entries, too many. He started scrolling through them all, "wow, he really has had a lot of training accidents. Good to know he was a troublemaker before he got to the 501st too."

He stalled in his scroll and his speech when he came across a picture attached to one of the medbay entries, "holy fu-"

The picture was of a small kid, probably year six in a growth sequence. The photograph was shot from the back and in stark lighting they saw a large gash on his back. More than twenty stitches holding the skin together. The entry said, a training accident involving knives. There was no other information.

Kix looked up to his Captain who had a grave look on his face, yet he was not surprised. The medic licked his lips before speaking, "since when do trainees that young train with sharp knives?"

"Download that file and keep scrolling," Rex said, "we are looking for something."

Kix did as requested of him and soon enough came across another file with a picture, a bruised and bloodied hand. The fingers were crooked and set in splints. The whole hand was swollen and colorful. The description said, "hand caught in a conveyor belt by accident."

Rex frowned, "this is seeming like a lot of accidents."

Kix kept scrolling. There were more and more pictures of injuries all with claims of being accidents. Never any injuries to the face and most were focussed on the back.

Then they came across the worst of them all. A body, Dagger's, laying face down on a medical bed. More than twenty gaping wounds in his back. They looked raw and jagged, there was no way a knife had made those cuts. The injuries looked like they were glossed with bacta, but it was clear that Dagger had been unconscious when the picture was taken. Either from blood loss, excruciating pain, or from being sedated, it was not clear.

There was no description, anything that had been written was blacked out. And there was a lot that had been written. Rex thumped his fist against the table, Kix looked up at him solemnly.

"Captain, these were not accidents. Someone did this to Dagger. Look at the downward strokes of the cuts," he said, gesturing to the picture, "all in the same direction. All at the same time. From the fraying of the skin and the inconsistency of the depth I think I know what caused this, even without the medic's notes," he explained. He paused, not quite wanting to say it, Kix would wait for Rex to ask.

The Captain swallowed, stealing his nerve, "what caused it?"

"A whip sir."

Rex squeezed his eyes shut. No. No. No. He took in a deep breath, he had to get his head under control. He had a job to do, "can you prove that?"

"Yes sir, it's not that hard, the marks are distinctive," he thought for a moment, "are you going after the bastard that did this to Dagger?"

"Yes Kix. I am," there was rage burning through his veins. How dare that monster touch one of his brothers. Wait, one of his brothers. What about Dagger's squad? Were there others who had suffered under this treatment?

"Look up what training squad Dagger was in. I want to see if he was the only one this happened to. And if we can figure out who was supervising his training we can figure out who did this. Dagger mentioned a Madam," He said.

The medic, once again, started typing. He looked in Dagger's file for his assignments. The only official unit that Dagger had been assigned was the 501st Battalion.

Where was his training squad? Under training leadership, the file simply had one name. It read, "Supervisor of Training: Madam Ker'Taa."

What? It was just her? There were so many questions swirling between the Captain and Medic that they did not notice a Jedi coming up behind them.

"You alright boys?" General Skywalker said suddenly, causing both of them to jump.

"Ah! Yes sir, we were doing research. I actually wanted to talk to you today. You said before that you would always help the men in your command. I need your help for one of my men today," Rex said.

Anakin straightened up at the bluntness of the Captain's words. Rex did not ask for things often, and if he was asking for help it had to be important.

"Of course Rex, anything," he responded sincerely.

"Not here sir. Kix, may I have that drive?"

Kix handed over the drive to Rex and they shared a glance. Kix didn't have to say a word for Rex to know what he was thinking. You better get the bastard that did this. The short moment ended and Kix watched as they walked away. He really needed a drink after seeing that. And maybe, if he was lucky, he would be able to forget it all.

Kix knew it would be in vain, he never forgot. Every single brother he saw injured he remembered. He remembered everyone he lost and everyone he saved. He remembered every last bloody detail. This would be no different.

Except it was different. He hadn't been there to heal his brother's wounds. It hadn't been an enemy that had inflicted the damage. It was someone who was supposed to be trusted, a traitor to his brother. A traitor to all of them.

~B~

Anakin and Rex walked in silence. The Jedi led the way through the halls of the temple until they came to a room. It was secluded and empty, a holotable sat in the middle. It would be a fine place for whatever Rex wanted to talk about.

"Captain, what is going on?" he asked, he was worried that perhaps someone had gotten in trouble.

"Sir, I need your help in finding someone. I have evidence that one of my troopers was mistreated during training on Kamino. The person responsible needs to face judgement for their actions, their crimes," Rex said.

Anakin was taken aback, mistreated? During training? It had to be bad enough that Rex came to him about it, what had happened?  
"What happened? What kind of crimes?"

Rex swallowed thickly, he realized for the first time that it may not be his place to seek out justice in Dagger's place. Especially since the clone had never willingly talked about it or even hinted at the mistreatment. Rex shook the thought from his head, it was his duty as Captain to protect the best interest of his troops.

He placed the holodrive on the table and started to pull up the newly downloaded files, "it just came to my attention that one of my men, while training on Kamino, was trained alone and- and was beaten by someone there. He-he thought that it was normal to be beaten when he made mistakes."

Rex's jaw was clenched and his hands formed fists at his sides. He refused to acknowledge the pricks of tears in his eyes as he pulled up the images, "General, they whipped him. They betrayed my brother's trust-"

Anakin looked at the images. His face a mask of calm when he could feel his anger rising. When he came across the image of Dagger's bloody and gruesome back he lost his control. He slammed his fist against the holotable, shutting the images off.

"Savages," he growled. Rex knew in that moment that Skywalker would help them. He had heard rumors of the Jedi's past and had hoped that he would, now he was sure.

"They had no right to do this to anyone, especially not a trainee. Who Rex? Who was it?"

"It was Dagger sir," he stated, he almost didn't want to say, but he knew that it was necessary.

Anakin's face twitched at the name, he knew about Dagger. He had never told anyone leaving the decision to her. He would have to run defense to protect her secret as Rex obviously did not know.

"Did Dagger tell you about this?" he asked.

Rex shuffled his feet, "not exactly sir, we had to put the pieces together in some places."

"Don't talk in riddles Rex, how did you find out about this?"

"We had to find Dagger this morning, he had gotten drunk last night and ended up at a female's house. After we got back I was going to assign a discipline when Dagger started acting... strange. He flinched away from me and started talking about how disobedience has to be punished. Sir, you can't ask me to sit here when I know that the one who hurt my brother is still out there getting away with it and possibly doing it again."

Anakin put a hand on Rex's shoulder, "they won't get away with it for much longer. Make a report of what you know beyond this and bring it to me tomorrow morning. I am going to go talk to the Jedi council immediately about this. No one should ever be treated this way. We will bring that scum bag to justice."

"Thank you sir," Rex saluted before striding out of the room. He would go find Kix again, he needed his help to make that report. He also knew that he had to go and talk to Dagger, but at the moment he didn't think he could handle it.

~B~

Rex found Kix crying on Jesse's lap. The tattooed clone looked up at the Captain with a helpless expression, "Captain I have no idea what happened, but it wasn't my fault. He just laid on me and started crying, he won't tell me why."

The Captain put his hand on Jesse's shoulder in consolation. As Kix saw the Captain come into his field of vision he started furiously swiping at his face. Trying to get rid of all evidence that he was crying.

"Sir, this is not what it looks like. I am NOT crying, my face, uh, my face is just leaking," he tried to defend, still not letting go of Jesse.

The tattooed clone looked Rex dead in the eye as if to say, don't believe his load of Bantha shit. Rex just gave him a tight lipped smile, "it's ok Kix. You aren't a droid, you are allowed to have emotions."

Kix nodded and Jesse asked, "what happened buddy?"

"It's not my place to say Jess, I'm sorry," Kix responded, still trying to dry his 'leaking problem'.

"Kix I need your help again, just for a little while. I know you probably don't want to, but General Skywalker has agreed to help," Rex said extending his arm to help the man stand up.

Jesse pulled Kix in closer making the medic look rather small, "it's your fault he is crying, you don't get to ask him for help again."

Rex's jaw went slightly slack in surprise. Jesse didn't usually snap at anyone, especially not him. Before Rex could even protest Kix put his hand soothingly on Jesse's chest causing the clone to break eye contact with the captain.

"It's not his fault, Rex is just trying to help a brother out. I am too, I have to go. Be back soon Jesse, you better not be in the same spot when I get back."

As the pair walked away Jesse crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his tongue. Kix responded in kind. Rex just rolled at the antics of the two; children, he worked with children.


	28. Chapter 28

Dagger woke up mid afternoon her head pounding. She decided the hangover she was feeling was trying to kill her. She really did not need this right now.

She didn't need it, but she sure as hell deserved it. She stuffed her head into her pillow in embarrassment. She remembered bits and pieces of everything that happened last night. Most of her time at the club she had forgotten, but she remembered the dancing and the fun.

The morning though, she remembered all of that and she would rather not think about any of it. The way that Rex had looked at her when she flinched away from him and he made her explain why. She couldn't quite tell what the emotion was that had been written over his face. Pity? Horror? Sadness?

Dagger shook her head as if to physically dislodge the thoughts. It didn't matter, she couldn't take back things that were already said. Her mind helpfully provided another memory to take her mind off of that one.

Too bad it was one that made her cheeks flair with embarrassment. She had taken off her helmet, risked everything. Just to feel his back. She had undressed her Captain and kissed his back. Had she lost her mind? She must have lost her mind.

She thumped her face repeatedly into the pillow. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! She remembered being so relieved that he didn't have scars covering his back. She had been relieved that he hadn't been punished like she had. He must have been a better learner than she was in training. She had just acted without thinking. She had risked everything, her secret, her position, her life.

And yet she hadn't been worried in the slightest when she took off her helmet. She trusted him to not turn around and he hadn't. She also trusted him fully when he had said that she wouldn't be hurt again.

She still didn't quite understand why Rex and Echo had reacted in the way that they had. Were they telling the truth when they said that no one was supposed to be beaten for mistakes? That was what she had been told and shown her whole life.

That would mean that she was lied to during her entire training. The first 12 years of her life she had been deceived. She understood why she had to be trained separately from her brothers. She was a mistake of the system, but if her brothers weren't punished for mistakes why was she?

She really needed to get her head off of this. So she decided to go work out, she had missed training today. So she put on her helmet and her workout clothes and headed out of her door. The hallway was empty and she couldn't hear anything from Captain Rex's room. He had to be out doing something, important officer business no doubt.

Dagger made her way to the elevator and went down a few floors to the gym. It wasn't as empty as it had been when she was there the other night. There were a number of troopers there who she didn't recognize. They must be from the other unit that was staying here while the 501st was.

She debated whether or not she should just leave and try and find some of her own unit to workout with. She was already here so she decided to just work out on her own, even if there were a whole bunch of strangers here.

What Dagger failed to realize is that the unit that was currently occupying the gym was the 104th. The Wolffe Pack noticed when there were outsiders around and they didn't just leave them alone.

She had barely even made it to the weights when she was approached. Dagger assumed that he was just going to use the dumbbells as well. The thought dissipated when he planted himself right in front of her, leaning against the rack.

"Hey shorty, what are you doing here?" he had two strips of red hair on his head.

"It's a gym, I'm here to work out. So I suggest you move out of my way," she was bristling now, she was not that short.

"What unit are you in? Cause I've never seen you before," he had a lazy grin, intentionally trying to get her agitated.

"Are you colorblind or does the blue not mean anything to you?" she growled, she did not want to play his stupid game.

"Ah so Torrent company, why the helmet in the gym?" he really would not let up with the questions.

She rolled her eyes and moved around him grabbing the weights she wanted and ignored his question. He would leave eventually. What she didn't notice was more of the Pack gathering behind her. They were also curious about the 501st trooper who was wearing his helmet in the gym.

"Boost, who is your new friend?" Wolffe called as he got off the bench press to see what his men were gathering for.

Dagger turned and he saw the blue stripe. Wolffe didn't even wait for Boost to respond, "ah you're the clone from the cafeteria. Still hiding under the helmet.

"Bold words coming from someone who pretends to be a dog," she snapped back, she did not like where any of this was going. She definitely should have left.

Wolffe growled and stepped up close to Dagger. To her credit she did not back down, in fact she puffed her chest and looked right up at his eyes, which was a few inches up. Was it the best idea to antagonize a Commander? No. Was she going to do it anyway? Hell yes.

Suddenly he grabbed the bottom of her helmet and pulled it closer to his face moving it up slightly. Dagger saw red, heart slamming with panic and anger. Before Wolffe could move to speak or even pull the helmet up she was swinging.  
Her fist connected solidly with his cheek and it knocked him away from her. He stumbled with surprise, hand flying to his cheek. She hadn't been looking for a fight, but she sure was about to get one.

Dagger raised her fists, "don't touch the helmet."

The Commander straightened up and there was a gleam in his eyes. Oh he was going to enjoy this. The 104th backed away and formed a wide circle around the two. It was then that Dagger really realized what she was getting herself into. She was about to fight the Commander of a different battalion.

It was too late to back out now and Dagger was too proud to try and talk her way out of it. She was able to defend herself and in doing so she would be able to defend the reputation of the 501st. Would she be able to win? Only time would tell.

If she were to bet she would say Commander Cody would be cheering her on. Captain Rex on the other hand, he would not be so pleased. He would definitely be dragging her by the collar out of that room. Well here goes nothing.

Dagger and Wolffe circled around each other, sizing each other up. The Pack had surrounded them and were slowly starting to chant. Dagger rolled her eyes, she was so glad that her battalion wasn't that cheesy. Sure they all watched when she fought Captain Rex, but at least they weren't chanting fight, fight, fight!

He lunged at her aiming a high kick towards her shoulder. She ducked underneath it and spun towards him landing a punch to his lower back. She felt her fist connect with solid muscle and he barely flinched at her blow. Holy shit this was not going to go well.

Wolffe used his momentum to spin and connected a backhand to Dagger's head sending her stumbling back. She regained her balance quickly and raised her fists in preparation for the next attack. Good thing too because he had a punch aimed right for her.

She ducked her head and blocked the blows that were aimed right for her chest. He hammered his fists into her arms with no intent on going easy on her. She backed up but he followed.

While he kept up his attack she noticed that he had left his own abdomen undefended. This was going to hurt. She dropped her arms and lowered her defense. Dagger aimed a hand punch right into the center of his ribs.

Her blow connected to his chest just as his did to her shoulder. Her arm throbbed and he wheezed out a breath as the air was driven out of him.

She jumped back out of range taking the moment of distraction to regroup. He straightened back up and looked at her with a smile true to his name, "not bad kid."

She didn't respond but with a speed that surprised even herself she lunged forward and landed a blow straight to his jaw. His eyes narrowed as his head snapped to the side, "that's it. Play time's over"

Her eyes widened as he renewed her attack on her. She could barely keep up with blocking, she had no time to even try and retaliate. Dagger, in plain terms, was losing terribly.

She could only block most of the hits, many of them did find their mark. He pummeled her sides with wide swinging punches. He had longer arms than she did, a lot more reach. Her skin and muscles ached, she would definitely be covered in bruises by the end of this.

Dagger tried to back away from him only to trip on her own feet just as he landed another central blow. She started to fall backwards and her heart hammered, full of panic. She could not go down here.

Ironically Wolffe is the one who saved her from falling. Unfortunately it was because he caught her by the neck. He pulled her in close till they were face to face. She clawed at his hands, nails raking across his skin in an attempt to get away.

Hand jammed up under her chin he was cutting off her air flow as he held her off the ground so they were eye level, "this has been fun, but you should have known better than to mess with the Wolffe Pack."

Her vision swam and she feared what he would do if she passed out. She felt bad about doing this in a spar but she brought her knee up and drove it into his groin.

Wolffe let out a pained groan, but his hand did not release from her neck. He fell forward and Dagger let out a concerned yelp as her back connected with the floor. He landed on top of her, nose slamming into her helmet.

He straddled her, hands still around her throat tightly, but there was enough room for her to be able to take gasping breaths. He groaned in pain and stayed curled up over her for a moment. She flinched as he sat up, still straddling her, and laughed.

She let out a nervous chuckle as he got off and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. He wrapped his arm over her shoulder, "nicely played Vod. Can't say I have had a spar quite like that in a while."

She had no idea what to make of what was going on, one minute they were fighting and the next he was laughing. He continued, "point taken little one. We won't mess with your helmet, I'd be proud to fight with someone as fierce as you on the battlefield."

She blushed at his praise, it seemed that she had earned the respect of the Commander and therefore the Wolffe pack. As she walked out of the gym, getting numerous fist bumps along the way, she wondered if this day would get any weirder.

Dagger stepped into the elevator and debated whether to go up to her room or to go see what her own unit was doing. She wasn't too sweaty so she figured it would be fine to go hang out for a bit with them. She pressed the floor button and headed down to the barracks.

It seemed like a pretty quiet afternoon for the 501st. She laughed to herself at the differences between 501st and 104th. She walked into the dorm room where most of her friends were staying. Everything was pretty abandoned, she saw Jesse and Hardcase both sitting in their bunks, leaning against the wall talking to each other.

With no sign of Echo or Fives she decided to hang out with them for a while. As she approached Hardcase slid over and patted the spot next to him, inviting her to sit in the middle of the two.

"Thank you for not being kidnapped, Dagger," he said.

She chuckled, "yeah no problem. I'm sorry for freaking everyone out."

Jesse tilted his head, "hey you got a little something on your neck there."

He gestured with his own hand to his neck to show where it was. Hardcase looked and nodded affirmation that there was in fact something there. Dagger couldn't see it so she just shrugged. The two troopers just let it go and they all lapsed into quiet conversation. It was nice to just relax with her friends.

~B~

Rex stood in the meeting room with General Skywalker and General Plo Koon. They were just waiting for Commander Wolffe to begin. Skywalker and Rex were leaving in the morning and someone would need to look after his boys.

Plo Koon had generously offered to help and he had volunteered his Commander as well. Rex smiled, Wolffe was going to love babysitting duty. Soon enough the doors slid open and the Commander entered.

Rex raised an eyebrow at his appearance, Wolffe had quite the shiner on his cheek and a gash on the bridge of his bloody nose which he had obviously been in a hurry to clean. Plo Koon was the first to say something, "Commander Wolffe, I trust you have had an eventful morning?"

"Yes sir, just a little rough housing with one of the 501st. I will say that you trained that boy well."

Rex stood with his arms over his chest smiling like an idiot. This was very amusing, one of his troopers had given the commander a good fight. He cleared his throat, "we will talk about that later, but for now we need to get this meeting underway. General Skywalker?"

"Ah yes, thank you Rex. So I have asked you both here today because I will be leaving for Kamino in the morning. The council has approved of my journey and I am taking Ahsoka and Rex with me. Even though I know the 501st will be fine on their own I would appreciate it if you could look after them Master Plo Koon in case of any emergencies."

The Jedi nodded, "of course. May I ask why the sudden trip to Kamino?"

Skywalker's hands fisted and Rex stood just a little bit straighter, a little more tense. The Jedi responded, "we have found evidence that an official in the cloning facility on Kamino has been mistreating the trainees. Captain Rex found out from one of his men and he brought the case to me. The council agrees that it is best to go find the individual and bring them to Coruscant for a trial."

Wolffe had latched onto the statement, "mistreating?"

"Abuse," Rex answered, "beating the trainees for not completing tasks well enough or for minor infractions."

The scarred Commander bristled, "you better get 'em. If you don't I won't ever babysit your unit again Rex."

Rex nodded, there was no doubt in his mind that they would get the bastard. He would make sure of it. No one hurt his brothers. That is why he always fought so hard in battles, the more enemies he could take out the less that could hurt his troops.

The rest of the meeting passed without incident. Details of how they would get to Kamino and strategies for finding whoever was responsible. Then they talked about the necessary training that Wolffe would have to instruct the 501st with. They decided that it would be best if both units trained together.

Rex would go talk to the 501st after this, they agreed to keep their mission discreet. He would of course tell them that he was leaving, but they did not need to know why they were leaving. The Captain would tell Dagger to inform him that they would find the person who had beaten him.

The clones were dismissed and they left together. As they walked through the halls Rex could not contain his curiosity any longer, "so who did you spar with that gave you that messed up face?"

Wolffe thought for a moment, "I actually don't remember his name."

"Probably Fives or Hardcase if I were to guess. Did he have a tattoo on his face?"

"Don't think so, sorry Vod. You'll just have to ask around your unit. Got a little wolf in your ranks though, he sure was a fighter."

Rex puffed his chest with pride, his boys were fighters. It was good that the Commander recognized that. He knew it was quite the praise for him to call an outsider a wolf. A type of honorary acceptance to the Wolffe pack that the soldier led.

They parted ways and Rex decided to check up on Dagger. He wanted to talk to him about the mission that he was leaving on. With all that had happened it was almost crazy that he still hadn't seen Dagger since early that morning. He wondered how he would be able to explain it while still being delicate about the subject.

The kid didn't even seem to realize that the abuse he had endured was wrong. He had thought that it was normal or even worse he thought that he had deserved it. Rex would have to show him that his treatment was wrong.

He knocked on Dagger's door and waited for him to answer. When there was no response he called through the door. Still no answer. He opened the door and felt a mild panic run up his spine when he realized the room was empty.

Rex took a breath, he wouldn't have gone anywhere. Probably just in the barracks hanging out with the others. He tried to calm his nerves as he took the elevator down to the barracks the 501st were staying in.

He did in fact find Dagger lounging on Hardcase's bed talking with him and Jesse. Dagger looked up and saw the Captain approaching. He got up and met Rex in the middle of the room. Rex's stride stuttered before stopping completely.

Why? Why the fuck were there bruises blooming bright red and purples along his arms? He could clearly see hand marks wrapped around the soldier's slender neck. Those marks had certainly not been there this morning. What could have possibly happened? How much trouble did this trooper even get into?

"Captain, I wanted to talk to you. So about last night. I know that what I did was wrong and I'm sorry for making you worry. I know it is weird to tell you this, but nothing happened between me and Astra. We just became friends and that is it. I am so sorry for freaking everyone out when I didn't show up for training this mo-"

He stopped Dagger's rambling by grabbing her shoulders, "I don't care about last night right now. What the hell happened to your neck?"

Her hand came up to touch the skin there, flinching slightly when she felt the tender spot, "oh no did it bruise?"

He could swear that Dagger could hear the sound of misfire in his brain. He had just promised Dagger this morning that no one would hurt him again and not even an hour later he was sporting a fresh set of bruises. He growled out a question, "who did this to you?"

"Please don't be upset Captain, it was just sparring that got carried away," she knew that look, angry Rex was not a good Rex.

"Wait sparring? No. You didn't," he scanned Dagger quickly, "you didn't fight Commander Wolffe did you?"

"Would you like me to say no?" she tried to joke.

He smacked his hand into his forehead, "you are lucky you are tough because you sure are dumb. I never thought one trooper could get into this many crazy situations."

"Sorry Rex."

"C'mon Dagger, I need to talk to you for a minute," he nodded to the door, "just you."

She surveyed him carefully but agreed. They walked out of the barracks just as Kix was walking back in. She saw that his eyes were red and the skin surrounding them was puffy.

Dagger stopped, putting a hand on Kix's shoulder, "hey are you ok?"

The medic just looked at her, sorrow shining in his eyes. He looked ready to burst into tears at any second. What he did instead surprised her. He wrapped her in a hug. His arms pinned hers to her side so she had to bend her elbows to hug him back at all. She rubbed his back and looked over his shoulder at Rex for an explanation. The Captain just shook his head.

She whispered soothing words to the medic. With no idea what was wrong she could only give general assurances. Dagger felt awful that her brother was hurting, she wished she could help him.

Eventually Jesse came and gently pulled the medic off of her. He obviously was not going to be letting go of his own accord. Kix gave her one final look before he allowed Jesse to pull him away and Rex continued leading Dagger out of the barracks.

"Rex what happened to him? Is Kix ok?" she asked.

"He's just upset, he will be ok. I promise," he responded. They took the elevator back up to their floor. Instead of walking to her door he ushered her inside of his own room.

Rex sat on the chair and Dagger sat on the edge of his bed. She thought she was in trouble again, "look Captain, if this is about last night I just want to say I'm sorry. I was really stupid and I get that now. I am so sorry, I won't ever go out on my own again."

"This isn't about last night. I understand that. I wanted to ask about Kamino."

Oh, that is definitely not where she thought this had been going, "what about Kamino?"

"Who was your training supervisor?"

"The Madam, a Kaminoan, she trained me."

"What squad were you in?"

"I- I didn't have a squad. Captain, I wear my helmet for a reason. She taught me to hide my face. I am a mistake of the system so she kept me away from everyone else to train. She said I was lucky to even be let out into the field at all."

Rex balked at the statement, "how could you be a mistake? You are one of the best soldiers I have ever seen. I think that we are the lucky ones to have you assigned to the 501st."

She just nodded, not replying to his statement. How could she even think of words to respond to the statement that went against everything she had been told her entire life?

"Dagger, the one who trained you, the Madam. Do you know her name?"

She shook her head this time, "she never told me. She said that clones are unworthy to speak her birth given name."

Rex grimaced, what an awful thing to say. He didn't want to ask, but he knew that he had to hear it before they could leave, "did she, for any reason, hurt you?"

"Only when I wasn't good enough," Dagger admitted, "I was not a good trainee. I would always try my hardest but I was never good enough. So really it was my own fault, I guess I deser-"

Rex cut off her sentence by standing and holding the sides of her helmet angling her face up towards him, "don't- don't say that. You did not deserve to be hurt, you were a trainee."

She saw his jaw clench and his eyes strain as if he were trying to get her to believe him. As if her understanding what he was trying to tell her would save him, "Rex what is going on?"

"You didn't deserve to be beaten by that monster. She was wrong about you and I'm going to prove it."

He shifted his hand to the back of her helmet and rested his forehead against the helmet. She pressed into the touch slightly, wishing for nothing more than to feel the warmth of his face on hers. Wishing for something she couldn't have.

"General Skywalker and I are going to Kamino. We will find the Madam and she is going to pay for what she did to you. She had no right to beat you the way that she did. I am so sorry that no one was there to protect you. I know it doesn't help and I know you might not understand, but what she did was wrong. We are here now to stand by your side. I will be here to protect you."

"Thank you Rex."

He released her helmet and sat back down in his chair, "so what is it with you and fighting officers you just met? First you fight me when you join the 501st. Now you fight Commander Wolffe. Should I be worried?"  
She let out a small laugh and rubbed the back of her neck, "oh you know, just what I do."

The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile as he stood and placed a hand on her helmet before starting to walk away, "Wolffe said it was a good fight. I'm proud of you kid. He is going to be in charge while I am gone, so don't give him too much trouble. And promise me you will stay safe."

"I'll do my best sir."

"You always do."


	29. Chapter 29

"Captain please, let me come. I can help, I want to help," he begged.

"Kix I don't know if that is the best idea."

"It is Captain. I can access medical files. I know my way around a medbay, even the one on Kamino. I might be able to find the un-redacted files, those could be instrumental in a trial."

Rex still looked sceptical but nodded. As Kix scampered aboard the ship he noticed that the medic already had a packed bag slung across his back. The cheeky bastard knew he was going to let him come.

He rolled his eyes and followed. He saw Ahsoka talking happily to Kix. He found his spot behind Skywalker's chair, he sat with a huff.

"Master you haven't explained why we are going to Kamino," Ahsoka said as she sat in the copilots seat.

"We are going to do what we do best. Justice."

~B~

"Ugh, I hate the Wolffe pack, they are so weird, and loud. I mean really, what is up with them and acting like a bunch of wolves," Fives complained.

"I mean they aren't that bad guys," Dagger defended, "I mean really, they are harmless, just like to mess around."

Fives and Echo did not look convinced and continued to watch the 104th mingling with the 501st. They had been some of the last to arrive to the chaos that was the time before training started. With all the ruckus that was unfolding in front of them they didn't even notice the Commander enter the room behind the trio.

They certainly noticed when he leaned an arm on Dagger's shoulder. He had a wide smile on his face, "Hey little Loth Wolf, it's good to see you again."

Both Echo and Fives sputtered at the pet name that the Commander had called Dagger. She turned her helmet towards him, smiling, "Commander Wolffe. Are you here for a rematch?"

"It was a sort of draw last time wasn't it? Unfortunately right now we have real training to do. Perhaps another time little Loth Wolf," he shook Dagger's helmet as if he were ruffling her hair before walking away.

Her friends gawked with slack jaws at Dagger, "Did- did Commander Wolffe, the Commander Wolffe just call you a Loth Wolffe?"

"It would seem so Echo. We spared yesterday and it seems that we have reached a mutual respect for each other," she shrugged.

"I would say a bit more than respect Dagger, Wolffe never gives people nicknames. Especially not nicknames that put them in his Pack. Looks like you are an honorary member of the 104th now," Fives explained.

She laughed, "Good to know I have somewhere to go if you two annoy me too much."

Both of them looked down, their expressions falling. Oh no, Dagger quickly amended our statement, "Guys, I was kidding. You know that there is nothing that could get me to leave you boys and the 501st. You are my brothers, my family, the only one I got."

"I'll hold you to that Dagger."

~B~

Rain. So much rain. It was always raining on Kamino. With the hoods on their cloaks turned up the four outsiders walked into the facility. They were met by a Kaminoan who had been informed of their arrival. They guided the group to a meeting room where they greeted general Shaak'Ti.

"Master Skywalker, the news that brings you here is very concerning. I have never heard of such transgressions happening under my watch. If there is anything I can do to aid your investigation I hope that you will tell me."

"Of course, I was hoping that I could look into your personnel records while Rex and Kix go look at the medical records," Skywalker answered.

"Certainly, I can take you to the records and Keviik will take your Captain to the medbay."

Anakin and Ahsoka bowed and followed the General out of the room leaving Rex and Kix to follow Keviik to the medbay. The halls were white and pristine, it was off putting. As if the walls were glaring at them, the artificial light always made Rex's head ache.

Keviik ushered them inside the medbay with a sweeping gesture of his arm before following inside. The kaminoan had a short conversation with the head medic and then left the room.

The clone then approached them, "My name's Pinch and I hear you two are looking for a file? What is the CT number?"

"I'm Kix and this is Captain Rex, we are looking for the file of CT19580," Kix responded quickly, "nicknamed Dagger."

The medic paused in his search for the file to look at the two again, "Dagger was assigned to the five hundred and first?"

Rex nodded and the medic asked, "How is Dagger? Doing well?"

"He is a model soldier. He has been doing great as long as he has been under my command in Torrent Company," Rex responded.

The medic gave him a look, as if he were analyzing Rex. He pulled out the file but did not extend it, "Are you here for what I think you are?"

"We are here to get justice," Kix said.

"It's about damn time too. However only medics are allowed to view the hard copies of medical files as they are the only ones with clearance to read unrestricted medical information. So if you would wait here Captain I would appreciate it," Pinch then led Kix to a back room.

Kix sat at the table and Pinch set the file in front of him. He elected to lean against the wall to give Kix some space. From the way they were talking earlier Dagger still had trust issues. They were understandable, but he had hoped that she would tell her unit or at least the medic, it did not seem that this was the case.

Pinch almost felt bad for the medic. This would be quite the shock for him. Kix opened the folder and diligently read every word. His eyes narrowed when he read one line in particular. He looked up at Pinch in question.

The medic held up a hand, "Do not accuse my Medbay of having inaccuracies. There are no mistakes in that report."

Kix's brow furrowed, but he turned his eyes to the next page. He covered his mouth with his hand. A picture, one that showed Dagger's face. One that was similar, but not the same. Something was fundamentally different.

He looked up once again, understanding so much by only seeing so little so far. Tears filled his eyes, not of sadness. Mostly of shock, he whispered, "A sister."

Pinch nodded. Kix set his head in his hands; he needed a second to process that. A sister. Dagger hid because she was a female. He had a sister!

Kix giggled, smiling wide. He jumped up from his seat and grabbed Pinch in a hug. Spinning around he laughed, "A sister. Pinch we have a sister! She is amazing! Dagger has always been amazing, but now it makes sense."

Pinch smiled at the medic's antics, the 501st always did seem like a rambunctious crew. Unfortunately he had to bring the medic back to the present, "Yes, she always has been quite the soldier. However, you did come here for something."

Kix frowned and released the medic, "Wait, but that means that our sister was the one who was abused."

"Yes and hopefully you will be able to bring the abuser to justice."

"Why Pinch? Why did that happen?"

"The answers that I have are all in the file. Also, if Dagger did not tell you herself I think it would be wise for you to think long and hard before you tell anyone of her secret," with that final statement Pinch left the room, closing the door behind him.

Kix sat and read through every single detail of that extensive file. He made note of everything that was important. He paid close attention to anything that would be necessary to know should Dagger ever be injured. Anything that could hinder her from performing to the best of her abilities. There seemed to be a lot of damage to her back and if he were to look he was sure that he would find extensive scarring there some newer than others. Aside from the mental toll there was little that he could think of that would impair Dagger from doing field work.

He was glad that he knew, as a medical examiner it was better that he knew now rather than misdiagnose or mistreat an injury due to a lack of knowledge. He sat back and thought for a while about why Dagger hid her face the way she did.

It was quite impressive really how well she had hidden her identity. He never once suspected that she was a female. He realized that he would have to choose now.

Choose who to tell of this information. He decided that he would tell the medics and that is all. He would make them swear to never tell another soul. Them knowing that she was a female could save her life if she was injured.

No one else needed to know. Not even Captain Rex. If she wanted someone to know, she could tell them herself. With the file reviewed and his mind made he closed it and stood. He knew exactly who they were looking for and they had enough evidence to bring back to the General.

Kix set his jaw, it was time to get the monster who had abused Dagger and make them pay. He knew there was only so much that he could do without getting in trouble or sent to reforming. But that didn't mean he wouldn't take a chance to punch the shit out of that woman should he get the chance.


	30. Chapter 30

Kix and Rex walked back through the halls, photocopies of key sheets in the file were held in the medic's hand to be used in trial. On their way they happened across an old friend.

Rex raised his hand in greeting, "Ninety-Nine!"

"Captain Rex, Kix, it's good to see you. I do hope we aren't under attack again like the last time I saw you," 99 replied with a smile.

"Not this time," Kix said, "how are you doing Vod?"

"I-I'm doing good, all healed from last time. What brings you boys here?"

"A friend, maybe you know him. Dagger needed our help with something," Rex said.

Ninety-Nine's eyes lit up at the name, "I haven't heard anything about Dagger in a long time. He was a good friend when he was here, never did get let out much. I was so proud the day they let him ship out. I will say I am surprised that he asked for help though. He always seemed to like to deal with his problems on his own."

Rex put a hand on his shoulder, "You know the 501st, we don't let brothers go without the help they need, even if they don't ask for it."

"So, so you are here about Madam Ker'taa then?"

Kix nodded. Ninety-Nine set his jaw and looked him right in the eyes, "It's about time too. Good luck boys."

They continued on their way after saying goodbye to Ninety-Nine. The pair found the three jedi all discussing matters at a round table with the Kamino supervisor. The troopers stood to the side and waited for them to be done silently.

Soon enough General Skywalker was turning to them and asking what they found. Kix stepped forward with the small file that he held. He leaned in close and whispered into his ear. Rex couldn't hear what he was saying but he saw the General nod.

"Of course Kix, we did know about that and we agree with your statement," he said.

Kix stepped back to stand beside Rex. The Captain quietly asked, "What did you tell him?"

Kix just kept his gaze locked straight ahead, no reply. Rex looked at him, confused, he obviously had heard him but had chosen to not respond. He really hated being kept out of the loop.

Soon enough the conversation drew to a close and General Shaak'Ti stood, "It is decided then, Madam Ker'taa is no longer fit to be part of the operations of this training facility. She will be questioned and arrested immediately by General Skywalker on charges of assault of a subordinate. Please contact me once you have her in custody and your ship will be brought to the main hangar."

"Right away General Shaak'Ti," Anakin responded.

"Bring Captain Rex and Kix with you. I need Ahsoka to stay here with me while we gather the rest of the evidence," she continues as she signals for Ahsoka to follow her. The three males take off with renewed purpose. Rex shares a look with Kix, it was time to get what they came for.

They arrived at a white door, it matched many of those in the cloning facility. General Skywalker stood in the center of the doorway, the soldiers standing behind him on either side as the Jedi pressed the doorbell.

The door slid open and a tall Kaminoan stood with her hands clasped in front of her, "Yes?"

"Ker'taa?" Skywalker asked.

"Madam Ker'taa, and you are?"

"I am General Skywalker of the 501st attack battalion. It has come to my attention that you were the training supervisor for one of my soldiers. Dagger."

"Ah, CT-19580. Yes I did supervise that clone in training, awful learner," she spoke with disdain and it made Rex's skin crawl.

"Did you harm Dagger in any way during training?"

"Of course," she spoke calmly, as if she had done nothing wrong, "the defective clone couldn't get anything right. It needed to be punished for its insubordination so I took matters into my own hands."

Rex growled, "His name is Dagger. And he is not defective."

He tried to lunge forward as Ker'taa laughed. Kix held him back just in time, the scene only proved to amuse her as she spoke again, "Ah you care for the little runt. That clone is defective captain, of that I assure you. "

Anakin jumped forward slamming the tall being into the wall, "Did you or did you not beat, whip, and mutilate Dagger during training?"

"I did," she said smugly.

"Madam Ker'taa, under authority of the Republic and with orders from the head of this facility you are under arrest. You will be taken to Coruscant where you will be put on trial before the Intergalactic Court of Justice," as General Skywalker spoke he pulled handcuffs off his belt and secured her hands behind her back.

The pair of clones followed as they headed down to the deck where the ship was docked. Rex was so tense he was shaking, Kix had to keep a hand on him at all times in order to keep control of him.

For the first time there was a hint of emotion in her giant eyes. Anakin was glad to see that she had finally realized what was happening. She seemed scared that she was being arrested, good.

By the time they got to the hangar she had started to plead with them. Her words fell on deaf ears. Soon Ahsoka joined them with R2D2. She informed him that their flight path out had been approved by General Shaak'Ti.

As they neared the ship Ker'taa was getting desperate, trying to break out of Skywalker's hold, "You don't understand. I didn't do anything to that pathetic life form it didn't deserve. That runt was asking for it. A mistake that tarnishes the proud Kamino name."

"Dagger is not a mistake. You had no right to treat him the way that you did," Rex yelled, he'd had enough of her lies.

"You are so protective of that thing. It is a mistake of the system, the DNA was too damaged and was not receptive to growth hormones. We had to wipe the memory of that thing at age 8 and started training at age 10. Waste of resources if you ask me, that thing did not deserve to live. The funniest part is that it doesn't even know that it's memory was erased. It thinks that it is a normal clone. It actually thinks it is equal to you. It will never be a soldier, not like you Captain."

With tears of anger in his eyes Rex draws his blaster leveling it at the Kaminoan, "You monster! You're lying! You have no right to talk about my brother like that. Dagger is the best soldier I have ever met despite what you think."

"Rex!" Anakin shouted, shocked his Captain's outburst. Rex was almost always under control, it was not like him to act so rashly.

"Go on, shoot me Captain. Anything is better than jail."

Rex's hand shook from the force of his anger at the Kaminoan, "We trusted your kind. You have betrayed us all. You hurt my brother and I will never forgive you."

She laughed again, as if to taunt him, "That thing is not even your brother. I bet you haven't even seen it's face. Mark my words once you see its face you will know and you will agree with me. That thing is more of a monster than I am, I should have killed it when I had the chance."

At that moment she broke her bonds and leaped toward the Captain, Rex yelled in anger jumping forward. There was a flurry of action as he tackled her to the ground, Skywalker was forced to move out of the way. The clone and the Kaminoan tussled on the ground. There was a blur of limbs as each fought for control of the other.

She grabbed Rex's other blaster and pointed it at him, in a fraction of a second his other blaster was raised and pointed at her. Both of their eyes went wide and the deafening sound of a blaster rang out. Everything was still.


	31. Chapter 31

(So I know we had a cliffhanger chapter last time but...)

There was really no avoiding it at this point. Echo and Fives had been asking her to go out with them for the past few hours. They wanted to take her clubbing like they had asked before the first night she went out.

"I still feel bad about going out without you two the other night," she argued, "I really don't think you will have fun with me."

"Dagger, it's ok. We know why you wanted to go, just wish you would have told us first," Echo said.

"Boy, you should have seen the Captain flip out when he realized you were missing," Fives said.

Dagger rubbed the back of her neck, "Did he really?"

"Oh yeah," Fives chuckled, "He almost tore Appo a new one when he reported that you were unaccounted for that morning. Oh and you should have heard his reaction to Dogma and Hardcase's theories."

"Listen, it's hard to not get upset when those two di'kuts get together," Echo said before changing his voice to impersonate Dogma, "I never trusted Dagger and now he left his helmet and deserted the unit."

Dagger scoffed in shock, Fives picked up imitating Hardcase, "Chill out Dogma, Dagger would never leave us. He probably just got kidnapped."

The trio broke into laughter at that. "Wow, did he really say that like it was a better alternative?"

Fives nodded as he and Echo started to strap on their freshly cleaned armor. Dagger lounged across Echo's bed as she was already in full uniform. She knew that eventually they would convince her to go out with them so she had suited up for the occasion.

"Besides, Captain said you could leave the barracks as long as you had someone with you. If you come with us there will be two people with you. I bet the two of us can keep the one of you out of trouble," Echo said.

She laughed, "Out of the three of us I don't think I'm worried about me being the one who gets into trouble."

"Guess you will just have to come find out," Fives said in a sing-song voice.

Dagger slumped back against Echo's pillows in mock defeat, "Fine, I suppose I shall go with you. If nothing else to keep you two from getting lost."

Echo's cheeks flushed as he blurted out, "Or you could just stay in my bed all night long."

Dagger laughed, not realizing the implications of his words, "Maybe when we get back we can push your bunks together and have a slumber party. Like that night on my first mission before we took over the fortress."

"Wait, you slept with Dagger without me? Echo I'm hurt," Fives said holding a hand to his chest.

Echo's cheeks flared even brighter and he quickly put on his helmet to hide it, "You know it wasn't like that you little shit. Dagger was cold and I didn't want him to freeze to death."

"Awww the classic spooning for warmth was it? So maybe that is why you li-"

"Enough Fives, I'm thankful for Echo's help. There is no need to tease him about it now."

Echo, who was panicking inside of his helmet, was only able to nod his appreciation to Dagger. Fives let the subject go, but his devious smirk remained, "c'mon you two. Let's go raise some hell and show Dagger what it's like to party with the 501st."

Dagger allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and waited as Echo attached his freshly ironed kama. He did want to look nice after all. Then they all left together.

~B~

79's was in fact a clone bar, and it seemed to be very busy. Dagger followed closely behind Fives and Echo as they made their way over to a table where Hardcase, and Jesse were waiting for them.

"It sure took you a lot long enough," Hardcase said in greeting as he moved over to make room for them at the booth.

"Yeah well I'm buying the first round so how does that make up for it," Echo said.

There was a chorus of cheers from everyone at the table. Alcohol was always a sure fire way for everyone to have a good time. Everyone shouted what they wanted at Echo and he promised to do his best to get everything.

Dagger stopped him by grabbing his arm at the last second. She shouted over the pounding music, "Grab me a straw."

"What the fuck is a straw?" Echo asked.

"Oh my god, Commander Cody was right," she said.

"About what?"

"Just ask the bartender for a straw in my drink he will know what you are talking about," she said.

Echo nodded his head and went to the bar. She listened mindlessly as Fives told a story of him and Echo going through ARC training. Dagger scanned the club, it was just as busy, if not busier, than Luna's was the other night. There were many more clone troopers and the place was filled with colorful armor reflecting the lights. The music was different too, at Luna's it was a lot of pop music. Here there was rock playing through the speakers.

She nodded her head to the beat, it would seem that she preferred this music. Hardcase nudged her in the arm, "Better than the tunes we get on the radio isn't it?"

Dagger laughed, "If I have to listen to anymore cantina jazz I think I might lose it."

Hardcase laughed with her, his eyes scanning the room haphazardly. She could tell he was jittery, the poor guy always had more energy than he knew what to do with. She laughed to herself as she found herself hoping he didn't start a fight tonight out of boredom.

Echo came back in time to interrupt her train of thought. He placed a variety of drinks in front of everyone. There was a range of colors and appearances to all of them. Fives downed his drink in full before it even hit the table and Echo rolled his eyes.

Much to the numbered clone's dismay, Jesse slapped him on the back as he took his last swallow causing him to cough and spew droplets all over the table. Dagger recoiled in disgust and Fives exclaimed, "What the fuck Jesse?"

The man just shrugged, "Wanted to make sure you weren't choking."

Hardcase shook his head, laughing, "It is a well known fact that Fives has no gag reflex. We tested it remember?"

"What the f-" Dagger started.

Jesse had to interrupt, "While not having a gag reflex is great, that does not mean he can't choke."

Echo slid in next to Dagger and she looked at him and asked, "How do y'all know Fives has no gag reflex? That sounds awfully suspicious to me."

"Don't tell me you believe in the taboo Dagger," Echo said looking down at her with an unreadable emotion.

"What taboo?"

"You know," he said, "some brothers think it is taboo to be with a brother, think it's gross or not right."

Dagger shook her head, "That's not what I meant. Do people really think that?"

Echo nodded and she spoke again, "That's just awful. We all fight for each other and we can't even be accepted by our own brothers. Who the fuck cares who you get with? They don't like it, they should mind their own damn business."

"I'll drink to that," Echo said with a smile. He held up his glass to the center of the table and proclaimed, "Cheers!"

There was a chorus of cheers from everyone who still had a drink to drink from. Dagger clinked her glass with the others, then she slipped the straw under the lip of her helmet and sipped the golden liquid. She had to admit it was not as good as what she had the other day, but it would do.

Fives spoke up, "This music is so much better than that damned radio we got on the Resolute. I think my ears are going to orgasm."

"What's an orgasm?" Hardcase asked, pausing with his drink halfway to his mouth.

Fives snickered but was interrupted by Jesse who wore a devious smirk, "It's when you fold paper to look like birds and shit."

"No bitch, that's oregano," Echo said with absolute certainty.

Dagger's eyes flickered back and forth between the speakers. Listening to this conversation was like watching a train wreck. Her cheeks were flushed bright red and she was thankful for her helmet to hide her face from them. She grabbed Echo's shoulder strap and pulled him closer so she could whisper in his ear.

"Echo, oregano is a spice. Origami is paper folding. Orgasm is what happens at the end of sex," she explained as quickly and consisly as she could.

Now it was Echo's turn to flush bright red. He flinched back as if he had been burning. Just as quickly he leaned back in and whispered hurriedly in Dagger's helmet sensor.

She nodded, "It's called that too. It's ok, you just didn't know the word."

Echo let out a hard breath of air, "Ok, I was about to say. I do not need a lesson in sex ed from my partner... Hold up, have you ever had sex before? You did go home with the beautiful woman that night and stayed at her place."  
She smacked her helmet approximately where her forehead would be as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. A quick glance showed her that everyone at the table was looking at her intently.

When she had waited just a moment too long Fives spoke up, "Well don't keep us in suspense, did you get laid or not?"

"No," she said softly, shaking her head.

Echo seemed to relax in, what was that emotion he was showing? Relief? And everyone else just grumbled. Fives smiled, "Hey it's ok kid. Don't think that it's a bad thing to be a virgin."

She nodded, grateful for his reassurance. The silence stretched for a moment too long and Fives slammed his hand on the table, "I'm going for more drinks. You wait here."

"Why do I have the feeling that he is going to do more than just get drinks," Dagger asked.

Echo looked at her with just as much dread as she felt, "I'm sure it will be fine."

Was he trying to convince her or himself?

Jesse and Hardcase seemed to be laughing at the situation. The latter's attention was caught by something shiny on the dance floor. If Dagger were to guess it was a glittery dress. Whatever it was, Hardcase was up in a flash to go investigate. Jesse followed soon after promising to keep him out of trouble.

Echo slid over to the middle of the round booth to make a bit more room for Dagger at the edge of the table. Dagger slides her now empty glass to the center of the table.

He leaned back against the padded seat and stretched his arms across the back. His long arms almost reached all the way to where she was reclining at the end of the booth. She stretched her legs until her calves were resting on the corner of the table and her feet hung in the air. Echo looked at her for propping her feet up and she just shrugged, "Feet aren't on the table, you can't yell at me."

He laughed and grabbed a tooth pick from the center of the table to chew on it. He tapped lightly on her shoulder plate to the beat of the music. They were both just chilling together and Dagger felt at ease. It was nice, amid the chaos of the club to just relax with her best friend.

She looked over at him and he looked back at her expectantly. She realized that this was the closest thing to eye contact that she ever got. She could see his eyes and he could never see hers, "Does it bother you?"

He tilted his head, fingers stopping their beat, "The war?"

She recoiled a little at that, "I mean that's not what I was talking about, but if you wanna get deep with that one uhhhh…"

"No, no that can wait for another time, or never even. What were you asking about?"

"Not making eye contact? I can see your eyes, but you can't see mine," she said, she almost regretted bringing this up.

Echo thought for a moment, chewing on his wooden toothpick, "Nah, not really. I mean I wonder all the time what you look like under that helmet. I just…"

Dagger looked at him and put her arm over his on the back of the seat, "You just what?"

"I just want to be good enough for you to trust me to show me your face. I just want to be there to help whatever is going on inside your head," he said honestly, his eyes filled with sadness.

Dagger looked down, unable to look at the strong emotion that filled his eyes, "I do trust you Echo, more than anyone else in my life. I just know that you wouldn't like what you saw under this helmet. I am a mistake, I don't even know why the Kaminoans kept me, a defect in the system."

"I refuse to believe that," he said shaking his head, "Whatever they told you Dagger, you are not a mistake. Don't believe them. There is a reason that Captain and the General are on their way to Kamino right now. They are going for you because you did not deserve the treatment that you got during training. You are one of us, no matter what you look like."

She nodded, "Thank you Echo. I couldn't ask for a better brother than you."

They shared a moment of silence before it was shattered by Fives sliding into the other end of the booth, "Hey boys, so I was just talking to a friend of mine a-"

"You have friends?" Dagger jabbed. Fives laughed along with her and just smirked instead of retaliating like he was known to do.

Dagger jumped as a soft touch landed on her shoulder, right in the crease between her chest plate and shoulder, "I'm the friend."

The voice was soft and distinctly feminine. Dagger looked up sharply to see the twi'lek standing beside her. She had a beautiful light purple hue to her skin and glittery silver jewelry that caught the light of the club.

"Oh geez you snuck up on me. Hello ma'am, would you like to sit?" she said as she started to move over closer to Echo.

She hummed playfully, "I think I would."

Before Dagger could move anymore she was throwing her leg over Dagger's lap and sat on her thighs, straddling her completely. Dagger took in a breath of air, her hands hovering awkwardly, "Well hello there. Um could I possibly interest you in a seat that is not on me?"

She laughed, "You must be new, sweetie. I know almost everyone who comes in to 79s. I guess you could say I have a type for clones."

"Well then I don't think you are going to like me much. I was just telling Echo that I'm not quite the same as everyone else," Dagger said. She had no idea what to do in this situation. She looked over the twi'lek's shoulder at Fives who was lounging back just watching. What the hell was he trying to do?

"My name's Marian and I think I'd like a chance to get to know you a bit. Fives did say what a great soldier you are. Won't you let a girl indulge in her fantasy a bit?"

She reached up for her helmet and Dagger quickly grabbed her hands, "the helmet stays on."

Marian smiled, that wasn't a no, "I can work with that. I like a bit of mystery anyway."

Echo was looking back and forth frantically trying to figure out what to do with himself. Fives grabbed him and pulled him around the booth, "Hey, let Dagger figure it out on his own and just enjoy the show in the process."

Dagger had no idea what to do with the girl sitting on her lap. She didn't push her off even though she knew that she could easily dislodge her if she wanted to. She went to settle her hands on the seat, but Marian caught them and placed her hands on her hips.

She could feel the soft fabric of her slinky black dress. There were two high cuts in the fabric that exposed her thighs. Dagger could feel every movement of her hips as she swayed to the beat.

"Oh honey you haven't ever done this before have you?" Marian asked.

Dagger shook her head quickly, "I'm not even sure what this is ma'am."

The twi'lek laughed, "I'm an entertainer darling. Enjoy the show."

Dagger sat back against the seat and kept as still as she possibly could. What the fuck was going on? How did someone even move like that? She peaked over the woman's shoulder as she swayed to the side. Fives and Echo were both watching with open mouths.

Marian leaned in and she could feel her breath tickling her neck. Dagger grunted at the sensation it caused. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was strange. She had been slipping between emotions, but it was as if a bucket of ice was thrown on her as she reached her hand's behind Dagger's back which was arching off the seat.

Her fingers connected with her blacks, right over one of her most sensitive scars sending a tingle of pain straight up her spine. Dagger flinched violently, she realized she was not safe here and this should not be happening.

She shook her head quickly and grabbed the lithe woman by her hips and hoisted her up. Dagger all but dropped her on the booth next to her as she stood. Marian yelped in confusion at the quick action.

Dagger slammed her fist on the table and leaned over Fives menacingly. She jabbed her finger at him and shouted, "Don't ever do that again. I don't need to meet your friends if they are going to hurt me."

With that she stormed away, she needed a drink. The second he got over the shock of being yelled at by Dagger, Fives scrambled after her. Echo apologized profusely to Marian, who in all honesty was taking the situation very well. She even told Echo to apologize to Dagger when he had calmed down for her. He promised that he would and he quickly followed his brothers.

Dagger made her way to the bar, ignoring Fives' calls for her to stop. She caught the bartender's attention and ordered the strongest shot he had. The man looked her up and down right as Fives and Echo came to a stop behind her, "Aren't you a bit short to be a clone trooper?"

Fives bristled beside her as she stood ramrod straight, "excuse me?!"

The bartender responded, "Well I mean you are short. What are you defective?"

Dagger was shocked into stillness but Fives did not hesitate to act. As if he was jumping over a fence; he planted his hand on the bar and vaulted over with skilled power. The man backed up as fast as he could, but nothing could outrun Fives' fist that was already headed for his face, "No one! I mean no one gets to talk to my brother like that!"

It only took a moment for the bartender to respond with punches of his own. Dagger was in shock, she tried to jump over the bar to pull Fives off of the man he was fighting with. Suddenly Echo's hand was on her shoulder and he shook his head, "Stay here."

Then he proceeds to jump over the bar just like Fives had and also attack the bartender. People were screaming and there was broken glass everywhere. The music was cut off and everyone in the club was looking at them. The man grabbed Echo by the chest plate and spun him into the glass shelves which shattered on impact. Fives dove headfirst at him in an attempt to headbutt him, except he slipped on the alcohol on the floor and ended up slamming his own nose against the other's forehead. This seemed to do more damage to himself than his opponent.

It seemed like seconds later and there were sirens blaring outside. If Dagger wasn't wearing a helmet she was sure that her eyes would have popped out of their sockets with how wide they went.

She jumped over the bar, much less elegantly than her brothers, and desperately tried to pull Fives away from the man he had in a headlock. The soldier was screaming something unintelligible at him that Dagger really didn't have time to decipher right now. Oh no the cops are in the club. Echo also seemed to realize this and tried to get Fives to release him.

It was too late, by the time he did let go the police droids were already surrounding them. Fives, who had been on a rampage, was now subdued and sulking.

Dagger glared at him and Echo as all three of them were put in cuffs, "I hate you right now. You fucking dipshits."

The coughing bartender started screaming as they were being escorted out of the bar, something about how they were never allowed back into his club. The entire club was watching as they were walking out. Hardcase and Jesse right at the front of the crowd. Jesse was obviously holding back Hardcase to make sure he didn't do anything stupid to also get arrested.

It seemed that all three had the same collective thought because at the same time Dagger, Echo, and Fives yelled to Jesse, "Don't tell Rex!"


	32. Chapter 32

She sat on the bench, arms crossed glaring daggers at Fives, not that he could see it anyway. Did you know that Coruscant jails had specific holding cells for clones? Because Dagger hadn't known that before tonight nor had she ever needed to know that information.

Apparently they were too skilled as well as too valuable to be kept with any other law breaking citizens. Too skilled but evidently not smart enough to not get arrested in the first place. Also the local police had no authority to punish them because clones were technically government property. With that rude realization aside, their time in jail was basically the trio in time out until someone came and got them.

So she just sat there, tapping her fingers on her bicep as Fives fidgeted in his seat. Echo, who was straddling the third bench in the middle, was uncharacteristically unbothered by their situation.

"Look I'm sorry Dagger," Fives had finally broken down.

She gestured vaguely, "For what? Hiring an entertainer to embarrass me? For starting a fight for an unknown reason? Or was it for getting us arrested for said fight?"

"First of all," he held up a finger, "I was trying to be nice and I didn't know she was going to hurt you. So I am sorry for that," another finger went up, "Second, I didn't attack him for an unknown reason. He insulted you and implied that you were deficient. I will not tolerate people making fun of my brothers, especially not you. Dagger, you are one of my best friends."

His third finger went up, "Getting us arrested was not in the plan so I am sorry for that too. However, I think that as far as first nights out go, this has been a pretty legendary first night out."

She leaned forward and buried her helmet into her hands letting out a sigh, "Fives why are you like this?"

His grin was wide as he winked at her, "Just made that way."

"He's right though Dagger, no one insults our brothers and gets away with it," Echo chimed in.

"If you knew what I was you would not be defending me right now," she muttered.

"Now that right there is what we are not gonna do," Fives said pointing at her angrily as he sat up straighter, "There is nothing wrong with you and nothing in the world could make me change my mind.

She leaned forward and her voice rose higher, "You haven't even seen my face. For all you know I could be a monster."

Fives jumped to his feet, fully yelling now, "You are not a monster and I don't need to see your face to know that. You could be anything in the universe, but never a monster. I've seen how you behave, I've seen the things you fight for. I may not have seen your face, but I know who you are!"

Dagger sat back, startled by the aggressive confidence he had in her. Someone believed in her and it was hard for her to believe it herself. She looked at Echo to see if he agreed.

Echo nodded his head at her silent question, "Fives speaks for all of us. We don't care what you look like, we care who you are inside."

She crossed her arms and turned her head away from them, tears pricking at her eyes, "I don't like being on leave, I have cried far too much and it's not fair."

Fives laughed lightly and walked around the bench, he extended his arms and she stood into his embrace. He patted the back of her helmet, "I've got your back kid. I always have, I always will."

Dagger broke away and rolled her shoulders signalling that the conversation was over, "So, how dead do you think we are going to be when the Captain finds out?"

Echo tapped his chin, "I think that the important question to ask right now is how do we get out of here?"

Fives laughed, "Ye have little faith in Jesse's perseverance and Hardcase's dumb luck. We will be out of here before the sun rises."

"Which brings us back to my original question."

His face fell, "Well we won't die in prison, but from Rex? That is a high possibility."

Dagger sat back down on the bench with a huff and let out a low sad whine. Echo came and sat next to her. He almost put a hand on Dagger's back to comfort him, but thought better of it recalling the reaction he had to Marian touching his back earlier. Instead, he just planted his hand next to his on the bench, their hands touching but not overlapping, "What's wrong?"

"I promised Rex I would stay out of trouble while he was gone."

Fives scoffed from where he leaned against the cell bars, "I tell Captain that I will stay out of trouble all the time, but that never stops me."

Dagger lets out a strangled sound and Echo glared at him. Fives held up his hands in surrender and Echo spoke, "Hey, hey. Don't freak out. It will be ok. Captain won't get mad at you. If anything it is our fault because we were supposed to look out for you and we only got you into more trouble."

"Dagger, what did you mean when you said Marian hurt you?" Fives asked, unable to hold the question back anymore.

"She touched my back. I," she hesitated, "I have scars and they hurt when anything touches them."

His face turned at the information, "But you fell from the high bars, right onto your back."

"And it hurt like hell."

Echo was hunched over slightly, his head turned towards Dagger and Fives, "Do they always hurt?"

"Everyday of my life," she responded seriously, "Doctors on Kamino said I have nerve damage."

"How did you get them?"

"I wasn't good enough, so the Madam punished me until I was good enough. Until I met her standards."

Echo fought to not go into a rage at the information, he stayed calm and put his hand on Dagger's thigh, "Dagger, you know that is not right? Don't you? No one should be beaten just because they didn't meet a training goal. She was wrong, wrong to hurt you and wrong about you."

Dagger looked at him, eyes sad under her helmet, "How do you know?"

"Because you are my brother, my partner, and my best friend."

Fives sat down on her other side, mirroring Echo, "And there is no deformity or deficiency that will ever change our minds about that."

She smiled and grabbed their hands, "Thank you guys. I just don't know how to believe that. I'm trying, but I was always taught to hide myself from everyone. It's hard for me to believe that you would still say those things if you knew what I was."

Fives bumped his shoulder into hers playfully, "You say that as if we would hate you. Dagger I swear if you are actually a Gungan, I will freak."

"You say that like you haven't seen any of my skin. How would that even be possible?"

"Exactly," Echo followed up, "So there is nothing that could ever make us hate you the way you fear. But that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to be afraid. We will always be here, as long as it takes for you to be comfortable in your own skin."

"Well this is all and good, a little deep talk session in jail," came a voice from outside the bars, "but y'all wanna come home now?"

"Wolffe!?"

"In the flesh. C'mon losers I'm taking you back. General Plo Koon is signing your release forms now," he said, there was something about the devious smile on his face that made Dagger feel better. Anything it was better than waiting here until Rex got back and bailed them out.

"How did you do that?" Echo asked.

"Get you out?" Wolffe clarified, as he opened the cell door, "Well, Jesse came to get me. Honestly I was gonna leave you all in here 'til morning for waking me up in the middle of the night, but he threatened to leave the other one, Hardcase, with me all night. So I figured if I was gonna be awake anyway I might as well come get you now."

Dagger was the first to walk out of the cell, eager to get out of there. Wolffe crossed his arms over his chest as they stood face to face, "I should have known you were a trouble maker little Loth Wolf, but getting yourself arrested…"

She hung her head, "I'm sorry sir."

He let out a burst of laughter and her head snapped up to him, he slapped her on the shoulder plate fondly, "I'm just messing with you kid. Leave ain't fun if you don't get arrested at some point. Let's go, you guys."

General Plo Koon had driven the speeder himself to go get them. The trio thanked him profusely for getting them out of jail. The jedi didn't seem to mind that they got arrested at all. When asked about it, he said that it wasn't his place to yell at them so he wasn't going to. That had surprised Dagger but she was very glad that they wouldn't have two sets of officers breathing down their throat. She even suspected that General Plo Koon's troopers got arrested more often than the 501st did.

Dagger didn't recognize where the speeder was going, but the General seemed to know where he was headed. Dagger was smushed between Fives and Echo in the backseat with Wolffe in the passenger seat. It was oddly reminiscent of when she was in trouble last time. Oh boy, she really needed to avoid getting in trouble if she didn't want to be squished in the back seat of speeder cars.

Plo Koon pulled up to a window and started talking to a person through an intercom. Dagger couldn't hear what he was saying over the racket that Echo and Fives were causing. They were arguing over which of the bands they were talking about were better. Dagger really had no clue who was winning.

They fell silent when the was General passed paper bags through the window. He handed all of them to Wolffe, who then in turn handed three bags back to them. Food?

General Plo Koon had just bought them food! There was a chorus of thank yous from the back seat. He smiled back at them, "Anytime boys."

Fives and Echo dug in and Dagger just happily sat with her bag on her lap. She could smell the food through her helmet and the fried potato sticks smelled great. She was very excited to get back to the barracks to eat.

She could tell Echo was getting tired because he was slumped on her shoulder as he ate. He grabbed a fry from his bag and tried to feed it to her helmet. She giggled and pushed his hand away, "Thank you Echo, I'll eat when we get back."

He put his head down on her shoulder and whined, "You gotta eat, you're so tiny."

"Echo, I'm not that tiny," she insisted, turning to Fives to ask him what was going on.

"When he gets tired he turns into a big ball of mush. I've never seen it in the field so that's good, but he won't remember any of this in the morning. It's best to just be gentle with him," Fives explained.

Echo kept trying to feed her fries and she sighed, she would have to wash her helmet tonight. When they arrived at the barracks she gently lured him out of the speeder by promising to eat if he got out. He followed her like a little puppy and clung to her arm as they checked back into the barracks.

"You're pretty Dagger," he said in the elevator ride up.

She looked at him, "How would you know that Echo? I could be ugly."

He shook his head resolutely, his short hair swishing slightly, "No, you are pretty. I know you are. Your helmet's almost like mine with the stripe. Pretty blue."

"I know . C'mon we are at your floor, let's get you to bed."

He planted his feet as soon as he got off the elevator, "You're going to leave us.'

She could hear the tears in his voice as he continued, "You promised earlier that we could move the mattresses together and stay the night."

"How about I go to my room and eat. You go and get out of your armor and then we can do that. Does that sound good?"

He nodded enthusiastically and let Fives pull him away to go get showered up. She smiled and was as quick as she could be going to eat and shower in her room. Even with all the activity her mind was buzzing from the events of the night.

Honestly, she wasn't all that mad about any of it. It was a crazy night, going to a club, getting into a fight, then even getting arrested. But her friends believed in her and that made all the difference in the world. They had insisted that they would not hate her, no matter what she was.

For the first time, as far back as she could remember, she almost wanted someone to know. She might, in the future even tell them about herself. The thought gave her goosebumps and made her muscles go tight. She had never in her life thought about wanting to tell anyone. It wouldn't be soon, but she decided right then that she would tell them, eventually.


	33. Chapter 33

Stillness. Quiet. The sound of a blaster had been deafening. No one knew who had fired first. Rex stood still, his eyes wide in shock. Then they narrowed in confusion, he didn't feel the pain that normally accompanied a blaster shot. That would mean…

Ker'taa fell to the ground, a smoking hole through her chest. She gasped and tried to breath through what would be a fatal wound. Everyone stood in shock, unable to look away from the dying Kaminoan.

She locked eyes with Rex, her voice raspy and broken, "You will see, that thing you call a soldier will never be what you want it to. It's a monster and a disgrace."

Her head fell back against the duracrete floor with a thud. Her breath left her and her eyes turned dull and lifeless as they stared unseeingly at the ceiling. She was dead, and Rex had killed her.

The Clone Captain turned to General Skywalker, panic in his eyes. He had just killed a Kaminoan. He had killed one of their creators. He would be sent to Court Martial for this or worse.

"General, she had, she had one of my blasters. I thought I was… General," his voice pleaded with Anakin to understand. Understand why he had done it, anything to not get sent away from his men.

Anakin's eyes were dark as he stepped towards the body. He hardly even looked at Rex, he snapped at Ahsoka, "Go to the archive room, erase the security tapes in this hangar of everything that happened."

Rex recoiled at that, but Ahsoka swiftly left with R2-D2. The General ignited his lightsaber, Rex backed away towards Kix. Carefully, he stabbed his lightsaber into the blaster wound. The blade sizzled against the flesh, widening the hole and obliterating all evidence of a blaster shot.

The General stood, shutting off his lightsaber and attaching it to his belt, "I was transporting the criminal to our ship when she broke free and stole one of your blasters. She was a threat to us and I acted in defense of my troops, killing her before she could kill any of you. You will only tell that to anyone who asks. Am I understood?"

The clones snapped to attention, "Sir, yes sir."

"Good," he said, "I can't let my Captain be taken away from the 501st. You are too important Rex, especially because you did what you had to do."

Rex's knees felt weak and he fought to stay standing, "Sir, I-"

"You don't have to say it Rex. You are my Captain, but you are also my friend."

"Thank you sir, for everything."

They watched as the medics took the body to the morg. Pinch looked at Kix in question, but the medic stayed quiet. Everyone seemed to stay quite for a long while after that. Rex was especially wary to speak. Ahsoka slipped back into the hangar silently and they all left the water world shortly after.

It was only when they were far away from the planet that anyone finally said anything. Rex spoke up, "General? Why did you do that?"

"She was wrong and deserved to die. If anyone knew that you were the one to kill her you would be the one punished even if you did the right thing. No one would question a Jedi, so it is better if everyone thought that I killed her."

"Master," Ahsoka said, "You are going to have to tell the council."

"Let me worry about the council."

Rex looked down at his lap, worry gnawing at his stomach. He had never lost control like that before. All of the lies that she was saying had pushed him over the edge. If he hadn't drawn his blasters they would be transporting a prisoner right now instead of leaving behind a body. So dumb and impulsive, he thought he had gotten over that by now. It seemed that he was wrong.

She had said so many awful things about Dagger. What was true, how would he even be able to know? Kix. He had read the file, maybe he would be able to help him. Rex looked over at the medic. He seemed to be unusually happy, his leg bouncing quickly to a beat of his own creation.

"Kix," Rex said quietly to get his attention.

"Yeah?" he moved closer so he was sitting right next to Rex.

"All those things Ker'taa said, they were lies right?"

"She said a lot of things Rex, which parts are you asking about?"

"She said that the growth serum didn't work on Dagger and that they erased his memory. If that is even possible, would they do that?"

Kix nodded, "Possible and true. I read every bit of Dagger's file. The growth serum was ineffective and they had to raise Dagger like a regular child. They erased his memory at ten and started his training then. All twelve years of it."

"So Dagger is twenty two? Like honestly lived that many years?"

"Yup."

"And he doesn't know?" Rex was trying to wrap his head around all of this craziness.

"Not that I can tell," Kic said honestly.

Rex looked away. If Ker'taa told the truth about that, how could he be sure that whatever else she said was lies. Everything was clouded and inconsistent. Dagger was a mystery, why was everything about that soldier so complicated? Why did it matter so much to him?

"She said that he wasn't our brother," Rex's voice was small. He didn't want to ask, he was afraid of the answer.

"She also said Dagger was defective," Kix said, putting a hand on Rex's shoulder, "She was lying. Ker'taa was a monster and was trying to get inside of your head. You can't let it work Rex. Do you trust me?"

He nodded. Kix continued, "Do you trust Dagger?"

Another nod, "Then trust that he is one of us and will never do anything to hurt any of us. That I promise you Captain."

"Rex, you got an incoming call at the holotable," Skywalker said over the intercom of the ship.

He scrunched his nose in confusion. Who would be calling him? Rex stood and made his way to the back of the ship and turned on the holotable. He was greeted by the projection of Commander Cody. He smiled, "Cody! What are you calling me for?"

The yellow clad clone smiled lazily, "Had some extra time on my hands and I was wondering how much trouble you were getting into while on leave?"

Rex rubbed that back of his neck, if Cody only knew, "Not much really."

"Is that the case," his eyebrow rose, "So I was just reading the latest GAR bulletin, as one does. It would seem that the Resolute has been repaired and you and the blues will be heading out soon."

"That's great, the sooner we get out the less disaster they can cause on Coruscant."

"And also I'm assuming you are not on Coruscant right now with your unit?"

"Actually on my way back now, had to take a trip to Kamino to-"

"Yeah I don't have time for your boring story right now. You are going to want to hear what happened while you were gone," Cody interrupted quickly.

Rex's short hair stood up on the back of his neck, oh no. Something had gone wrong. He had made them promise to stay out of trouble. They probably burned down the barracks, or drunkenly defaced some government building. Oh no, the universe had cursed him! That was the only answer for all of this mayhem.

"Please tell me Hardcase was not involved," he pleaded.

Cody looked down at his datapad scanning for the names and laughed, "He was present but not involved. It would seem that two of your boys started a fight at 79s. Three of them got arrested and all of you have been banned from the club until further notice."

Rex leaned forward and rested his head in his hands, elbows propped on the holotable. He let out a groan of pain, "Nooooooo."

Cody laughed at his misfortune, "Do you want names?"

"Do I want them? No. Do I need them? Yes. Also I need to know the number to call the jail to get them out."

"I already called Wolffe cause he is on leave too. He said he got them out that night and grounded them to the tower," he chuckled again, "You are going to love this Rexy boy. Fives instigated the fight."

"Not surprising in all honesty."

"Also unsurprising is that Echo backed him up," Cody continued.

"Please tell me that Jesse was the third one. Or Dogma, or Cricket, or literally anyone other than who I know it was," Rex was pleading even though he already pretty much knew who the third was.

Cody held up a finger, "Before I tell you, to his credit he was doing everything he could to stop the fight and was never a part of it. Dagger was trying to get them to stop fighting but the police arrested him as well."

"How Cody? How can one man get into so much trouble? Please tell me because I have no kriffing clue."

"Just remember that he was trying to stop the fight, not be a part of it."

"I know, I know thank you Cody."

The Commander gave him a mock solute and the communication cut out. Rex let out a sigh and made his way back to Kix. The medic had the nerve to smile at him, "Soldiers am I right?"

Rex just rolled his eyes.

~B~

A resounding snap rang out through the air. Dagger flinched in pain as she felt a searing pain bloom on her back. She was kneeled on the ground, her eyes screwed shut. Her teeth clenched and she breathed through her nose as steadily as she could.

She couldn't even remember what she did this time. At this point it didn't matter, she just had to breathe, she just had to get through this. She could hear the Madam speaking, what was she saying? What was she saying? Dagger couldn't tell. There was only pain.

Striking down her back, the whip tore the soft flesh. She flinched in pain and gritted her teeth. She could feel the heat of her own blood dripping down her back. She closed her eyes for a moment and the pain dulled.

When she dared to open them again she was laying face down in the hallway. There was something red on the floor. Funny, the floors were usually so clean. How there was a reflective red on the floor pooling in front of her. There was something important there, something she should probably be remembering.

She giggled as she saw a face appear in the red. A friend spoke to her, "Dagger? Dagger you poor thing what happened to you?"

"Ninety-Nine?" she asked.

"Yeah it's me kid. C'mon, let's get you to the medbay, you need some help."

She looked at the clone, confused as he pulled her small body up off the ground. He supported her weight and all but dragged her down the hall to the infirmary. Her feet refused to work and she stumbled as she had a hard time controlling them.

They got to the medbay and Pinch was there. She smiled wide, as if she were drunk, "Friend! Is it a party?"

The medic looked to Ninety-Nine in question and the clone just shook his head. The medic rushed forward as he saw the blood trailing down Dagger's arms. He gasped as he saw the extensive injuries to her back. Oh no, not again.

Pinch started barking orders to everyone in range to help. They prepped a blood transfusion and started disinfecting the wounds. As soon as that was done they applied a bacta spray to help slow the bleeding and accelerate the healing process. Then they started the long process of stitching Dagger's skin, or what was left of it, back together.

It took a long time, but eventually Dagger was stable, even if she was passed out on the hospital bed laying on her front. Pinch had to take a picture for her medical file. He had always stated the truth in his reports, but every time that he reported incidents nothing happened. It was as if no one cared or that no one heard him.

This time would be different. He was going to try a different approach. As soon as Dagger was healed he was going straight to General Shaak'ti and recommending Dagger for active duty. There would be no way of knowing if or when she was shipped out, but he would do anything he could to get her away from her abuser.

As Dagger slept sirens wailed. The entire complex shook under heavy attack from the Separatists. Trainees and troopers, commanders and captains all defending their home with a vigor that would rival most battles.

Dagger healed from her injuries while others died in battle in the same building. Just steps away from where she slept in a forced unconsciousness. The limbo of life and death was daunting and never definable. There is no certainty of when only the certainty that death will take us all. The sirens blared into the night, bleeding steadily into her dreams.

It was sometime in the early morning when Dagger woke up suddenly from her dream. She was breathing heavy and it took her a moment to realize where she was in the barracks. Echo and Fives on either side of her. Both now looking at her with concern.

"Sirens," she managed to say through panting breaths, "Kamino?"

Echo looked at her closely through the darkness, "Dagger? Are you ok? What were you dreaming about?"

"I was in the medbay. On Kamino? There were sirens blaring."

"Sirens? Dagger I think you were just having a nightmare," Echo said, gently encouraging her to lay back down on the mattresses that laid across the floor.

Fives just turned his head, his voice gravely from sleep, "You would have still been there during the attack wouldn't you?"

"Oh yeah, that was right before you had been assigned. We could have seen you and never even known it," Echo said humming quietly.

Dagger folded her arms underneath her to prop up her head while she laid on her stomach, "I think I was in the medbay. I don't remember much of what happened and I was shipped out as soon as I had healed."

"Did she hurt you?" Fives asked.

Dagger just nodded, unable to form words. Her back ached with a phantom pain at the memory. It was months ago by now, but the dream made it feel like it had just happened.

"Ninety-Nine came into the medbay just after the fighting was over. He got hurt real bad protecting some of the trainees. Pinch said he was going to pull through and I'm glad that he did," Dagger said changing the subject.

The conversation lulled for a moment and they lapsed into silence. Reflecting on what they knew and what they had been through. Echo took a breath and she could hear the tremble in his chest, "I miss Hevy."

Fives seemed to choke back a sob at the mention of the name. He hadn't been expecting Echo to say that, "I miss him too Echo. Every day. You would have liked him Dagger, and he sure would have loved you."

Echo, who was laying on his back, felt a surge of sadness at the statement. Hevy really would have liked Dagger. He covered his mouth with his hand, stifling his shuddering breaths. Tears ran down his cheeks and dampened the hair at his temples. It wasn't fair that Heavy wasn't here with them. He had wanted to get off of that base on Rishi more than any of them and yet he was the one who had sacrificed everything for them to get away. Fives and he were the only ones remaining of Domino Squad.

Dagger flipped over and rested her hands one each of theirs, "You will be able to see him again one day. He is fighting in the war of the eternal now and I'm sure he misses you every day."


	34. Chapter 34

It was midmorning when the crew finally arrived back on Coruscant. Their story was set and if anyone asked they would all respond with a recount of the events that matched. The only thing that needed to be altered from the truth was how the Madam had died.

Rex was instructed by General Skywalker to have everyone pack up after training for the day was done. The Resolute had finished repairs and the final safety checks were being run now. They could be leaving as soon as tonight.

The Captain made his way to the vast training room, Kix following closely behind. He entered the room and smiled at the chaos that was taking place. He assumed it was some sort of training exercise, but it looked like a giant game of tag. Grey and blue armored soldiers alike were running back and forth across the room. People were getting tripped and tackled all over the place.

He walked forward into the middle of the madness to try and figure out exactly what it was they were playing. Suddenly, a short trooper streaked past him, a small flag tucked into his belt. As he ran past, the trooper let out a joyous laugh.

Rex smiled as he recognized Dagger. He ran to the opposite side of the room, easily ducking and dodging around anyone who tried to get in his way. Once at the wall, he scampered up the scaffolding that had been set up.

Standing on the top of the platform, he waved the flag in the air and cried out, "VICTORY!"

There was a chorus of cheers and a few groans at the exclamation. Everyone came to a halt, it would seem that the game was over. He could see Dagger's chest heaving from the exertion. His shoulders were pushed back and his chin tipped up. Rex could almost see the smile from behind the helmet even though the armor never changed it's unrelenting shape.

Dagger scanned the crowd below, high on adrenaline and the thrill of winning. She spotted the pair of soldiers who had not been there during the game, "Rex and Kix are back!"

There was another round of cheers, this time only from the blue clad soldiers. Wolffe got up quickly from where he had been tackled to the ground by Sinker. The trooper had apparently forgotten which side he was on. He had to go talk to Rex before anyone else got to him. The Commander pushed through the crowd and grabbed a hold of the Captain's pauldron and pulled him away from everyone and out the door.

Dagger climbed down from the scaffolding and scanned the heads for Rex. She wanted to go say hi and ask about how the trip went. If she was being honest with herself she was really worried about what the Madam had said to them. Had she revealed her secret? What if the one who had always told her to hide, was the one to bring her secret into the light of recognition?

She looked and looked but she couldn't find Rex. He seemed to have disappeared in the short time it had taken her to climb down. However, she had spotted the next best thing. Kix.

They seemed to lock eyes at the same time. Kix seemed to light up as he saw her and gestured for her to follow as he left the training room. She pushed through everyone who was gathered and followed as quickly as she could.

She finally caught up to him in a seemingly abandoned hallway. She started to open her mouth to speak, but stopped as he tore off his helmet. His face was lit up in a bright smile and he wrapped her in the strongest bear hug of her life.

"Dagger, you are perfect. Perfect in every way, I don't care what that woman told you. You are perfect, you are wanted, and you are loved by all of your brothers," he said quietly into her ear.

She stiffened at his words, shocked at the sudden and adamant praise. She looked into his eyes as he held her back by her shoulders. She searched for meaning and she saw his resolve, his understanding. He knew.

Her breaths came quickly and she felt her head spin. He knew, no, this was all a mistake. It had all happened so fast. Rex had just told her he was going, she hadn't even considered the consequences until he was already gone. She should have known, should have insisted they stayed. She had already escaped, there was no way for the Madam to hurt her here. She should have made them give up their mission.

Kix felt Dagger start to breath heavy, something was wrong. As her knees buckled he held her under the arms and gently lowered her to the ground. He tried to talk to her but she seemed stuck in her own mind.

She found herself kneeling on the floor, Kix's face close in front of hers. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear it over the sound of ringing in her own ears. She felt hot, everything was sweaty, her heartbeat was erratic. Frantically, she tore off her gloves, anything to try and get cool. Her armor was suffocating

He really wished he could get the helmet off of her so he could get some readings off of her. Then, he would be able to tell what she was responding to in his efforts to get her attention.

Her helmet finally snapped up and he could hear her voice rasp, the subtle humm of a voice modulator was apparent. So light that no one would ever notice if they weren't listening for it.

"Does he know?"

He shook his head, "I'm the only one who knows Dagger. You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to tell anyone I don't have to. I took an oath as a medic to protect my patients. I will protect your secret."

She shook her head, hands coming up to hold the sides of her helmet, "Don't send me away Kix. Please don't let them send me away."

"No!" he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. He spoke firmly, "No, stop talking like that! You need to trust me and you need to trust your brothers. We would not trade you away just because you are different. I will forever be thankful to know that I have a sister and that she is perfect in every way."

She tilted her head at his words, "You don't think I'm a mistake?"

"Never Dagger, everyone is made for a reason beyond this war. Nothing could ever make me think you are a mistake."

"Promise me you won't tell anyone else."

Kix looked down, "I can't do that. I have to tell my other medics. It could save your life Dagger, they need to know. But outside of them I will not tell anyone, I give you my word."

"Can I trust you Kix?" she asked.

"Always. You are my little sister and there is nothing I wouldn't do for you."

"Do you want to see?"

He put his hand on top of her helmet, holding it in place, "Only if you are comfortable with that. I don't want to freak you out anymore than you already are."

"Kix!" came a call from down the corridor.

He gave her a wink before extending a hand and pulling them both up off the floor. He turned and greeted Rex as he came down the hallway. The man came to a halt in front of the pair.

"Ah, I was just going to ask if you had seen Dagger," he said, "I got caught up talking to Commander Wolffe."

Dagger tried to get her hands to stop shaking. It was amazing that she was able to keep the rest of her body from trembling, but the hands she couldn't stop. She held them behind her back so that way Rex wouldn't see. What would he even say if he knew that she was afraid?

"Kix, could I talk to Dagger for a bit?"

"Sure thing Captain," the medic nodded and pushed Dagger along when her feet seemed to be stuck. As she passed he whispered in her ear, "Trust him kid."

Steeling her nerves, she followed Rex to where he was leading her. They ended up in his room, he was quieter than usual. He took a seat on the desk chair and she sat at the foot of his bed.

He seemed just as nervous and jittery as she was. Dagger couldn't figure out why he would be nervous, unless he had found out. She really hoped that wasn't the case, she cared about him and the friendship that they had. She wanted to stay that way. Kix had said to trust him so that is what she was going to do.

"We found the Kaminoan who trained you. Her name is Madam Ker'taa," his voice seemed detached from his words, "General Shaak'ti ordered her arrest immediately when she heard about what had happened to you. So General Skywalker arrested her and we were bringing the criminal back to the ship to bring her to Coruscant."

Dagger tensed, "She's here on Coruscant?"

She had thought that she had put it all behind her. All of the fear of pain and loneliness. Just one mention of that woman being near gripped her to the very soul and she had to fight her instincts to run.

"No," Rex looked her in the eyes, "In the hangar she broke free of her cuffs and attacked me. She grabbed one of my blasters. She was going to-"

He cut himself off to take a deep breath, "General Skywalker stopped her. She is dead and she will never hurt you or anyone else ever again."

She looked in his eyes and saw hesitation. There was something he wasn't telling her. He was hiding?

"Captain?"

She knew something was definitely wrong when he looked away, not even correcting her for calling him Captain. His shoulders hunched and he looked very small in that moment.

"Rex? What's wrong?" she leaned forward and placed a hand on his knee, trying to comfort him in anyway she could.

His hands tightened into fists, "I hate lying. It's not fair. I did the right thing but if anyone knows it I will be sent away for reconditioning."

"The General didn't kill her did he?"

"I did," his voice was icy now, "I killed her and I am glad it was me. She deserved it. She said awful things about you, lying to try and save her own skin. She was an abuser and a coward. That woman did not deserve to live and I am glad that it was my blaster that ended her life."

Dagger was shocked into silence for a few moments. The Madam was dead. She wouldn't ever be able to see Dagger again, there was no way for her to hurt her now. It felt like a weight was lifted off her chest and for the first time in a long time she didn't have any fear in the back of her mind. There were plenty of things to worry about, but not the Madam. She would never have to worry about her again.

Rex had truly kept his word. Before he left for Kamino he had told her that if anyone hurt her he would kill them. He had done that for her. He had risked everything, his position, his men, all to kill the one who had abused her.

Dagger moved forward suddenly, knocking Rex back in his chair. She crowded into his space and straddled his lap, wrapping him in a tight hug.

He let out a small concerned noise as she did this, but quickly returned her hug. Even with armor on he could feel how tiny Dagger was. Growth serum was a serious drug and if it didn't work right it made sense that Dagger would turn out smaller.

"Thank you Rex," she whispered in his ear.

He smiled, "You're welcome."

She moved to get off his lap, realizing the awkward situation she had put herself in. Rex had other ideas as he pulled her in tighter, pressing their bodies together, "I think I know why you hide now Dagger."

She stiffened immediately, "You do?"

He nodded, "She hurt you. Scarred your face, didn't she? You don't want anyone to see it because they would look at you differently."

So he didn't know, she couldn't exactly correct him, "Something like that."

His hands rested on her hips, one came up to gently hold her neck, tipping her chin up to meet her eyes. Or at least as close as he could get through the helmet, "What happened in your past does not define your future. We all have scars and no one will fault you for yours. When you are ready, not before, I'm sure you will show us your face."

"Thank you Rex," she said, "I should probably get off you. I'm sorry for climbing all over you like that."

He didn't let go of her hips, a crooked smile spreading across his lips, "I mean you don't have to. You look good sitting in my lap."

Dagger's cheeks flared, a small whine escaping her throat, "I, uh, I am, uhhh-"

He chuckled and released her, Dagger scrambled to her feet and her head spun. Did he really just say that? Did he mean it? What was 'it'?

Before either could say anything Rex's comm chirped and pulled his attention away. He answered and had a short conversation with General Skywalker. Dagger perked up as he shut off the comm, "Time to go?"

"I think you've gotten in enough trouble here, time to find some more out there in the galaxy," he said.

"Sounds like a plan to me."


	35. Chapter 35

The Twi'lek planet of Ryloth is under Separatist attack yet again. This time they were not taking the Twi'leks as slaves. They were slaughtering the people by the hundreds. The attack was led by General Grievous himself, who apparently had a score to settle on behalf of his masters. The newly fixed Resolute was speeding to the outer rim in hyperspace, desperate to make it there in time.

Everyone had finished unpacking their belongings. It felt like an eternity since Dagger had slept in her bunk on the ship. She frowned slightly as she realized she would have to go back to sleeping with her helmet on.

She had really started to enjoy sleeping without it. More and more she was starting to question her motives for keeping the helmet on. Maybe the Madam was wrong about her brother's reactions to her being a female. Kix didn't seem to mind, hell he was excited about it. Would the others feel the same way? Would the people closest to her support her even though it was different?

She started to make excuses or loopholes in her mind about how she could get away with sleeping without her helmet on. Everything was dark, no one was ever up in the middle of the night. She would have to start training again in the middle of the night. She had slacked off during their time off on Coruscant, Rex had told her that she could relax a bit. She had listened to him, but now it was time to get back to work.

As soon as this mission was over she would get back to working out, and maybe, just maybe she would go to sleep without her helmet on. Afterall, the Madam was gone now. Her brothers told her that the Madam was wrong. Kix said that she could trust them. He had seemed to be happy about having her as a sister. Would everyone else feel the same way?

She wanted to tell someone, anyone. After this mission she promised herself. After this mission she would tell Rex. That would be a good place to start, she wanted to tell him. Moreover, she wanted him to know. Dagger was terrified that he would reject her, even kick her out of the unit, but she was willing to risk it. Just not right now.

There was too much to think about with a mission so soon. It wasn't worth the distraction. She would tell him, on her own terms, not rushed or forced.

The intercom of the ship crackled to life and announced that they had thirty minutes until they arrived at Ryloth. They needed to gear up and grab their weapons from the armory.

Dagger checked one last time that her dagger was secure in her hip holster before taking off for the armory. This would be the first mission she took it out and she would be damned if she lost this precious dagger.

She finally made it to the hangar where everyone was lining up in formation. The troops were awaiting instructions as they finalized their armor and packs. She found her spot next to Echo and realized that the buckle behind her left shoulder had come undone.

Echo saw her struggling and reached over with a chuckle. He snapped it down with ease securing the armor in place, "You nervous Dagger?"

"No."

"It's okay to be scared. Scared keeps you fast, fast keeps you alive."

"I'm not afraid of the machines, I'm not afraid to die,'' Dagger said without looking over at Echo.

"Well I guess I'll just have to be nervous enough for both of us."

Now Dagger did turn to him, "Wait, why are you nervous?"

"Honestly, I'm always nervous. Scared as hell that will come back with less brothers than we left with," he responded solemnly.

"It's war. People die everyday and there is nothing we can do about it. We just have to keep on fighting so they didn't die in vain."

"Someone's in an edgy mood today," Fives said as he came up to her other side.

Dagger crossed her arms and puffed her chest, standing on her tiptoes, "Jail changes people."

Echo pressed a finger into her chest plate causing her to stumble back off balance, "Alright tough guy, let's not do any dying out there ok?"

He tried to lean in to hear her response, but it was drowned out by the sound of the fighters taking off from the hangar. The advanced party was on its way. Their job was to punch a hole through the blockade to let the gunships through. After the ground troops were in position they would either be fighting to destroy the Seperatist ships or providing cover.

Either way, Echo never did end up hearing what he had to say. Dagger had already turned to the gunship they were assigned and was climbing aboard. Rex was already there waiting and Echo felt a stab of jealousy when he instantly went to the Captain. Rex offered his arm for Dagger to hold and the smaller man did not hesitate grabbing on.

He shook his head. Get a grip Echo, Dagger is only hanging on to him so he doesn't fall. It wasn't like the action meant anything. Even if it did, Echo shouldn't care, they were about to go into an active war zone. He steeled his nerves, it was time to go to work. Any emotions or feelings that he had were not going to help him or his brothers here, so he shoved them down.

The gunship closed its doors and started its journey to the planet's surface. This was always one of the worst parts. Everything that happened appeared to be at the mercy of luck. As the troopers were stuck in the belly of the ship, hiding behind blast doors, there was nothing they could do to protect themselves. If the ship went down they would all die.

It was not their time today. They sped towards the ground and the ship lowered behind a rock outcropping. There was a battalion of droids close by that the 501st had a plan to take out.

The ship doors opened up and the soldiers all jumped the last few feet to the ground. Dagger was in front of Echo and took off running. Well, he would have if not for an unfortunately placed root. Echo couldn't help the burst of laughter that came out of him as Dagger hit the ground.

He quickly shut up and hauled Dagger to his feet, "C'mon kid, no time to play around in the dirt."

Dagger simply grabbed her blaster and stole her nerves, it was time to fight. And a fight is what they got. Red blaster bolts shot towards them. Republic soldiers retaliate with blue shots of their own.

There was a simplicity in all of the chaos. Their line advanced and the enemies came closer. Kill or be killed. There was no politics, only life and death.

Dagger was focused on her work. She took careful aim when she could afford it. When she couldn't she laid down cover fire for her brothers moving from one area of shelter to another. The droids were merciless and uncaring, so she destroyed them without a second thought.

This was the first stage of their multi-tiered plan to reclaim the planet of Ryloth. Torrent Company was on the surface to fight the bulk of the separatist forces. They had intercepted them as they were travelling from village to village.

She could hear the air screaming as the fighters entered the atmosphere. The ground shook as they bombed the Separatist lines. She was near the front of the assault, darting out of her cover when she could to take out more droids. She was so close to the blast she could feel the heat of the explosion.

Even with significant damage to the droid battalion it seemed like more and more just kept coming. How many could there possibly be? A particularly heavy barrage of blaster fire forced her to stay behind her rock. Another soldier dived across and rolled to land next to her.

"Still doing ok?" Rex asked, skidding to a halt.

"Good as I can be, these damn droids just keep coming," she shouted back.

He nodded and they both leaned out from behind the boulder to assess the status of the droids and take more out when they continued to advance. In the corner of her field of view she saw a green glow. The Jedi! It was about time they got there.

The figure darted up the battle field with speed and agility. Commander Tano then. To Dagger's surprise the Commander ran to where she and Rex were hunkered down and wedged herself between them,

"Hey Rex!" She said gleefully, as if she were at a park and not in the middle of a battlefield.

"Commander Tano, secondary unit is currently on their way to flank the enemy. They should be in position within the next ten minutes. All we have to do is hold our position," Captain Rex reported quickly, as soon he was finished he stood and took out a handful of droids. Once he was finished, he ducked back down to listen to her response.

"We'll have those tinnies on the run soon boys," she had a wide grin on her face, she looked over at Dagger, "Wait aren't you that trooper that is a f-"

"I HAVE TO GO!" Dagger yelled, she hardly even looked before darting out from behind the rock. She held her blaster with one hand to fire at the droids while the other pumped in time with her legs as she sprinted across.

Rex, who had just sat back after another round of fire looked after Dagger. A noise of concern left him and he quickly started firing again, trying to provide any cover that he could for Dagger. Once she was safe behind another rock outcropping he looked at Commander Tano, "What happened to Dagger?"

Ahsoka snapped her fingers, "That's the name. Dagger is the one we went to Kamino for?"

"Commander in case you haven't noticed, those droids are getting closer. Is this really the time for small talk?"

She ignited her lightsabers and jumped up on top of the rock. She parried the blasters effortlessly. Rex watched as she darted forward and started to take out the droids. Once she was on her own he looked over at Dagger who was kneeled behind a large outcropping of rock.

He spoke through the Torrent Company channel on the helmet communications, "You trying to get shot Dagger? What the hell did you run out like that for?"

"I saw an opening so I took it," Dagger tried to explain. How else was she supposed to explain that she ran from the Commander because she was about to say something that she did not want said out loud yet.

Another voice joined the chat, "Bullshit! It wasn't clear at all. It's a miracle you aren't dead on the ground right now!"

"Where are you Echo?" Rex asked, he didn't see the Arc trooper anywhere.

Then Echo poked his head out from behind Dagger, "I'm here sir. Want me to keep an eye on Dagger?"

"As if you would listen to me if I told you not to," Rex scoffed, "Dagger, stick by Echo's side and no more running out unless you have to."

Dagger grumbled some unkind words, but nodded in agreement. She looked over at Echo who shook his head at her. They both ducked as an explosion close to their position was set off. As soon as the debris was cleared they both poked their heads out over the rock. After seeing the damage they made eye contact, as if to check that the other was in fact seeing what they were seeing.

All of the droids were lying dead on the ground. An electronic as well as explosive blast had been set off. Commander Tano was perched, with her legs swinging on the air, on top of the cannon of a droid tank that was still smoldering inside.

"That kid did all of that?" Dagger asked.

"Yeah, Commander Tano is pretty awesome," Echo said, nudging Dagger as he stood. She took his hand and he hoisted her to her feet. She sprung up and dusted off her armor where it had gotten dirt from her fall earlier. They spotted Kix running around frantically to all of the wounded.

Dagger turned away, she could pretend that they weren't there if she didn't see them. She didn't even want to think about all of the empty bunks that would not be filled again. She did not want to think about how some of her brothers would not be coming home tonight.

So she didn't think about it, she walked towards the wreckage of the droids. Kicking them or prodding them with a blaster every once in a while, just to make sure they were really out.

She sped up her pace when she neared the Commander. Checking that no one was around she was relatively alone. When she was sure that she wouldn't be overheard she climbed up the tank and slid along the cannon until she sat just behind the Jedi.

"Sir? May I talk to you," She asked hesitantly.

Ahsoka swung her legs around until she was facing Dagger and straddling the cannon, "Of course. Dagger right?"

"Yes sir. Commander, I know that you are a Jedi and all, but no one here knows what you know. Only Kix. I would prefer if it stays that way."

Ahsoka cocked her head slightly, "No one knows that you are a girl?"

"No sir," Dagger dipped her head.

"I can feel the fear in you. We cannot let fear of ourselves sway how we feel. There is too much to fear from the enemy to be afraid of what we are," she said.

"That may be easy to say, but it is not easy to do when you have to hide everything you are from the people you care about most," Dagger said. The Jedi had no idea what clones went through. They weren't slaughtered by the dozens every single battle. Dagger was more than a little miffed at the fact that a Jedi was preaching to her about fear. It was easy to be unafraid when you were invulnerable with a magic sword.

"You must trust those around you. Do not be afraid of your brothers," she said, almost as if she was pleading with Dagger to understand.

The soldier looked away, "I am not afraid of them, I am afraid of myself."

With her thought conveyed she jumped down off of the cannon and fell down to the ground. As she landed, the dust curled up around her boots, she strode away not bothering to look back at Commander Tano. She could tell that she was being watched, she could hardly care if she had overstepped. After this mission she may be sent away by Rex. What would be the difference if Commander Tano thought she was disrespectful anyway?

She wiped the frown from her face and forced a smile as she approached Echo. Belatedly, she realized that he couldn't even see her face and it didn't matter if she smiled or not. Either way he didn't seem to notice as he slung a heavy arm over her shoulder.

"How you holding up, Dag?" he asked.

"Pretty good. Who did we lose?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Kix is still looking after the wounded, Jesse is helping him now. We got about a dozen wounded. We lost Click and Hiccup."

"Damn, that really sucks," Dagger's head turned down. She knew their names, but she couldn't recall ever having a conversation with either of them. Click slept just a few bunks down from her. Hiccup always hung out with Cricket in the lounge.

"I hope it doesn't get worse than that, we don't need to add anymore names to the song tonight," Echo said.

"Song?"

"Oh, we didn't lose anyone on your last mission did we?" She shook her head and Echo continued, "After missions, when everyone is back together, we sing the song of the lost. Jango taught the first batch Mandalorian songs. One that we sing is for the lost, another for any injured and fighting for life. That one is always particularly intense. It is a prayer that our brother will make it through his battle still on the side of life. Many don't make it," Echo's words were soft and solemn.

Dagger put a comforting hand on his arm, "You'll have to teach me Echo. Anything that could help a wounded brother is something I want to be a part of."

"I will teach you, I promise as long as you promise to make it through this," Echo pleaded with her.

Dagger let go, "I will always try my best, but I can't promise you anything Echo."

He lightly tapped the forehead of his helmet into hers. She was startled by the kindness behind the action. By the time she realized what had happened he was already walking away. She looked around as subtly as she could, had anyone seen what had just happened. She spotted Rex, talking to Fived a little distance off. Both had their helmets off, Fives was smiling and Rex was scowling. They both seemed to be putting up a facade of conversation, however it was clear that they both had seen the interaction.

Dagger did not know what to do with herself. Had Echo meant it as a Keldabe kiss or was he just being friendly? He had been seeming extra affectionate today and Dagger did not know what to do with the extra attention. Rex seemed to be in a bad mood so she didn't want to go over there.

She turned to look around for the rest of Torrent and spotted Kix, he hovered as the injured were being loaded onto gunships to return to the medbay on the Resolute. She made her way over to him and stood at his side.

The Medic stilled as she came into view. He let her stand right next to him, shoulders brushing. She could tell he was stressed by the way his breathing trembled. He always worked so hard to help everyone who was wounded.

"Hey," she spoke softly, "You did a good job today."

His head was still turned down, "It's not over yet."

"No, but it will be soon. Everyone knows that you do everything you can for us. I wouldn't want anyone else to be watching over me or my brothers."

Kix leaned into her for a moment and then turned toward Dagger, breaking their shoulders apart, "I will always be there for you boys, especially you, sister. Please just do your best to not need my help, especially not like Hardcase. That di'kut punched a droid in the face about three missions ago. Broke almost all of the bones in his hand."

"I will do my best, I think stabbing droids would be more fun than punching them," she chuckled as she patted the dagger on her hip.

Rex signaled Torrent company through the helmet comms. They were to meet in the central clearing and split into their secondary groups. They would be moving forward into the second phase of the mission.

Torrent company needed to clear the surrounding villages of any straggler droids. While they were in the different villages they would be on the lookout for a place that was safe to camp for the night. Tomorrow they were supposed to go to the capital at dawn. There would be no time to get back to the Resolute and actually sleep.

Alpha Squad with Rex and Fives took a group of ten to the East. Bravo Squad with Jesse, Kix and Hardcase went to the South with their group. Charlie Squad with Echo and Dagger went to the west. Dagger wondered if the setting sun would be an issue, but sunset seemed a few hours off so she didn't worry too much about it.

She waved goodbye to Rex as he left their temporary clearing. He waved back briefly, but quickly turned and secured his helmet on his head. There was a mission to complete and Dagger almost felt silly for waving. Instead she just shrugged it off and followed Echo and the rest of Charlie Squad into the forest.


	36. Chapter 36

The trek through the forest was a quiet one. No one made any noise and everyone was on lookout for signs of the droid armies. There had been reports of clankers in the area, but they could have very well moved on by now.

There was no sign of them as they approached the village. There were small wisps of smoke curling up from the houses. If Dagger didn't know better it would look like the villagers were cooking dinner. Except she did know better, the houses were just shells of what they were before and the smoke came from fires left unattended in the aftermath of the droids. Blaster marks scorched the buildings and doors were left askew from people fleeing without taking a single belonging.

It had taken them longer than they had originally thought to get to the western village, but that is to be expected when they couldn't take the roads or trails to get there. The small group wouldn't be able to take on a battalion of droids, which were crawling all over this planet. There was no aerial support at the moment because the fighters were engaged in the airspace over the capital.

The sun was just over the treeline as they entered the village, eerie shadows stretching across the ground in long trails. After visually checking the area, the group split into pairs to search the premises.

Echo nodded to Dagger and they both stepped carefully out of the brush. Blasters up and scanning. The first red bolt that streaked towards them caused them to dive for cover. There was a burst of chatter on the helmet comms.

"Enemy fire coming from the buildings," Echo shouted, "Does anyone have eyes on the numbers or models attacking?"

"I see commandos, unsure how many there are," Flicker responded. Dagger could see him on the other side of the clearing, him and Dredge were still hidden in the treeline. They hadn't been able to get out in the open yet.

"Kriff!" Dagger spat. Commandos were bad news. Not as dumb as the usual clankers, but at a distance they could be dealt with easier than up close.

Echo popped up from behind their cover and chucked a small metal ball towards the origin of the blaster fire. He quickly turned and crouched back down, hands flying to his helmet, "Grenade!"

Dagger mirrored his position, curling up to protect her core in the event of shrapnel. The blast from the grenade was thunderous. She could feel the heat of the blast through her gloves. It only helped to further the droplets of sweat that were trailing down her face, collecting on the inner face pads of her helmet.

It was hard to tell whether the quiet was because of her ringing ears or because the droids had stopped firing. She shook her head to try to disperse the ringing and peaked over the rock they were behind, "They dead?"

Echo looked up at her, "I don't know. Charlie Squad, take your pairs and search the houses."

There was a chorus of affirmative responses from the squad as everyone slid out of the treeline. Dagger and Echo shared a look through their vizors and proceeded to the houses closest to them. Since they had gotten furthest out of the squad they went to the last house in the row. They would work their way inward and meet back in the middle of the clearing.

The door was hanging by a single hinge and the pair flanked it. Echo nodded, his blaster ready. Dagger kicked in the door with her boot, the wrecked piece of wood flew back into the wall. Shattering with a satisfying sound. She had no time to relish in it as Echo twisted into the house and immediately opened fire on the commando who had been in the room.

They had apparently taken it by surprise as it was down in two shots, falling in a heap of useless metal on the floor. Dagger smiled, "Nice shot Echo!"

He straightened up slightly at the praise, "Nice entrance, Dagger."

They began to clear the house, searching through each room. When they didn't find anything out of the ordinary they moved to the back door and left the house.

Echo paused for a moment outside to check in with the rest of the squad. Everyone seemed to be almost done with their houses and hadn't run into any problems. The only remaining structure to clear was the last house on the block.

"Charlie squad, once you have finished with your searches wait in the clearing. We will head back as soon as we are finished," Echo spoke through the comms.

"Can't we go wait in the trees?" Flicker asked, "Saw some berries that might be edible."

"Last time you ate a berry in a field your face swelled up like a balloon," Dredge commented for everyone to hear.

"Negative on the berries, Flicker. Just wait in the clearing," Echo cut off the conversation and focused on the task at hand. The final house.

Echo signaled Dagger to follow him towards it and confirmed with the rest of the squad to meet in the clearing after they had finished. They would need to be moving on as soon as they had finished, the other squads may need their help.

Dagger kicked in the back door to the last house, which did not go flying off the hinges this time. She followed Echo in and they systematically searched the building. He ducked off into a bedroom while she continued up the narrow hallway towards the front living room.

She couldn't see anything dangerous in the open area. There was a couch up against the front wall, under a wide window that showed the courtyard where they would soon be meeting. There was a wooden caf table in front of that, low to the ground.

She turned to go back the way she had come when her eyes went wide. There was a commando right behind her. She hadn't even heard it. She let out a gasp of surprise as it lifted a mechanical leg and slammed it into her chest.

Dagger flew back and landed on the caf table. The wood shattering around her and dropping her to the floor. She landed with a tud, the first thing she realized was that her blaster had been knocked from her hands. The second was that it was very hard to breath. Adrenaline pumped through her, all but dispersing the pain until she could barely feel it.

She jumped to her feet, not even looking for the fallen weapon and drew her dagger from its holster at her thigh. She held the long blade in a reverse grip, dropping into a low defensive stance.

The droid cocked its mechanical head at her, as if analyzing her. With a quick movement it holstered its own blaster and somehow materialized an electro staff. The weapon crackled to life with purple electricity on both ends.

Dagger couldn't help the reflexive half-step back she took. Commandos didn't usually carry those weapons in the field. Narrowing her eyes, she squared up to the droid.

She took a raspy breath and tried to steady her racing heart. Just as she took a step to run at the commando, it crumpled to the ground as its head was snapped to the side. It fell and revealed Echo standing behind. He grabbed his blaster and shot it a few times in the chest.

He looked at her as he pulled off his helmet. His face was stern, "Please tell me you were not about to fight a commando with an electro-staff with only your knife?"

"It's a dagger," she protested, holding up a finger. The adrenaline was quickly wearing out and the pain in her chest came back in full force. She coughed and stumbled back, holding her chest.

Her boots faltered over the remains of the caf table, tripping her and sending her crashing back towards the ground. Echo rushed forward and grabbed her by the chest plate. He lowered her slowly towards the ground, he propped her up against the couch, kneeling on her right side.

"Dagger? Dagger? What happened," he brushed the remaining wood chips off of her armor.

"Fuckin' clanker drop kicked me in the chest," she wheezed.

Echo reached out for his partner, concern evident in his voice, "You might have broken ribs. Let's get this chest plate off and see the damage."

Dagger flinched violently, grabbing his wrists stopping Echo in his tracks, "No!"

Echo stopped, concern easily seen on his face, she continued more calmly as to not upset him further, "I mean, I'm fine. Really Echo, I'm already feeling better, just got the wind knocked out of me."

Echo looked at her skeptically, but was given no time to argue as Dagger stood and readjusted her armor to its correct place. She nodded to him and made her way to the door. Echo took an extra moment to take a deep breath to calm his racing heart, the prospect of Dagger being hurt had scared him deeply. As he gathered his thoughts and emotions back into control he went to secure his helmet back on his head.

He heard a faint mechanical whine in the distance, he tilted his head to try and hear it better. The droning sound was getting louder and he looked out the window. A Republic fighter? Why was it on fire?

Echo saw the fighter spiraling out of control getting lower and lower, it was going to crash! Right in front of them! The giant fighter got bigger and bigger as it crashed towards the ground.

His head snapped over to Dagger, he was just reaching for the door not having heard the sound through the noise dampeners in the helmet. Panic seized Echo, "WAIT!"

Dagger paused, hand hovering over the handle. Head snapping quickly to Echo for an explanation. He scrambled to get up, it felt like he was moving in slow motion. He couldn't move fast enough.

All he had time for was one last look at his partner. He screamed, pleading and desperate, "DAGGER!"

The door blew off its hinges in a fiery blast, sending shrapnel into the house with intense force. The blast that had started in the middle of the courtyard blew apart the front of the house that they were in.

Dagger and Echo were thrown back into the wall. Both instantly unconscious from the force of the impact. Injured, bleeding, and incapacitated. They were the lucky ones. The rest of their squad, their brothers who had no protection of a house, were not able to withstand the blast that no one except Echo had seen coming.


	37. Chapter 37

Fighting against the darkness seemed like the hardest part, Dagger clawed her way back to consciousness. There was something wrong. Something was wrong and she had to do something. The only problem was that her mind was not working with her at the moment. She just couldn't figure out what the problem is, or was.

When she did finally reach consciousness, the pain hit her like a truck. She let out a strangled groan. Her face and stomach had the worst pain, both were sticky with blood. She heard shifting next to her and asked, "Echo, are you okay?"

She heard a sudden jerk of movement and heard his voice, "Who's there?"

She opened her eyes and everything was blurry. She could just make out his shape, her voice was raspy and foreign to her own ears, "Echo."

The light was dim, the sun must have set by now. She wondered why there was any light at all, it was red and flickering, fire maybe? Even the dim light was bright to her. She felt a hot breeze on her face.

A breeze that she should not have been able to feel. Realization slammed into Dagger, her helmet had been blown to pieces. The front was in shards, most gone, others embedded in her face. She gasped when she understood what had happened and tried to turn away as far as she could so Echo wouldn't see her face. She had to get up, she had to move.

"Dagger? Are you okay?" Echo sat up finally, not nearly as injured as she was. He was trying to get his bearings back after knocking his head into the wall. His head pounded, but at least he could still think straight.

He saw the red all over his partner's armor. Echo tried to roll him over, but Dagger wouldn't budge. He resisted Echo's pulls, trying to get away, even though it caused more pain.

"Hey, Dagger you've got to roll over. You're injured real bad, let me help," he pleaded gently.

She shook her head, but couldn't keep in the sob of pain that escaped her lips. Echo's eyes narrowed in concern, he grabbed his partner's shoulder in the least injured place he could find and turned Dagger over to face him. Echo laid his partner onto his back as gently as he could.

He covered his mouth in horror, Dagger was covered in so much blood. Wood chips from the door and armor from his helmet piercing his skin.

Dagger's chest plate had been blown apart, leaving him in his blacks from the waist up. It was hard to tell what was injured in the low light and quick scan, but it didn't look good.

Soon, he got to Dagger's face. Echo realized that his partner's facial features, underneath all the blood, were not what he was used to. Instead of seeing his own face mirrored back in some way, he saw someone completely different. Someone feminine, but not altogether foreign. Everything clicked into place like a puzzle piece. All the hiding, all of his partner's odd actions. It all made sense now, why couldn't she have told him?

"Dagger," he whispered, his voice breaking, "Why?"

Her eyes were squeezed shut and she let out a whimper of pain, "Echo, it hurts."

He shook his head, it didn't matter right now. What mattered was that he got Dagger the help he, no she, needed. He switched on his helmet lights as he put it back on to see better. He pulled out his first aid kit and on the ground before he pulled Dagger into his lap. Echo looked down at her injuries, his mind threatened to spiral into a hysterical panic. He had to take in a deep breath to regain control. How had everything gone so wrong?

As gently as he could, Echo pulled the remnants of her helmet off, stuffing it into his pack hurriedly. He knew it was painful on her cuts and tried to be done with it as fast as he could.

Her short hair was matted to her head with sweat and blood. It was even shorter than Tup's hair he realized. A slight fade from around the ears up into a bulk of about three inches at the top.

While wiping away some of the still oozing blood he commed Central Command, "Charlie Squad, requesting immediate medical assistance. At least one injured."

There was no response through the communicator. Dagger weakly grabbed for his wrist, not able to make contact because of her blurred vision. There was too much blood and grime to see through, "Please, don't tell them."

"Now is not the time to be thinking about that Dagger. I have to get you help or you might," he choked on the word he was about to say, "I need to get you help. That is the only thing that matters. I will take care of everything. I will take care of you."

She coughed and looked up at him, pleading. He couldn't hold her gaze, there was so much pain in his partner's eyes. He couldn't take it.

Why did it have to be Dagger? He should have been faster to warn her, he should have been able to protect her. If given the option, he would have taken all of her injuries on himself in an instant.

Echo pushed all of his thoughts and emotions down deep. Focus. He cleaned her face and could see shards embedded in her skin. Being as gentle as possible, he wiped her eyelids, "Dagger, can you open your eyes for me? Can you see better now?"

She nodded, her eyes opened and revealed a dark brown color that was filled with pain. Her breath hitched, "Echo. I- I can't breath. Echo, it hurts."

His brow furrowed, "It was a bad blast, you probably broke some ribs. Oh stars, Dagger, oh no."

He had just spotted something bad, very bad. There was a large fragment of shrapnel embedded in Dagger's lower stomach, it was bleeding profusely.

"Command, please respond. Can you send medical to our location?" he asked urgently.

"ETA ten minutes to your current location," was the quick response.

Echo set to work wrapping the injury as best as he could while not disturbing the shrapnel in the wound. There was no chance that he was pulling it out. Never pull out shrapnel, it could cut more on the way out and the victim could bleed out faster. That was not an option. As soon as he was finished, he was satisfied that his partner wouldn't bleed out in his arms in the next five minutes. He went back to tending her other injuries to the best of his ability.

"Echo," she croaked, he met her eyes filled with worry, "Listen, droids."

Echo's blood ran cold, the clank of droids' footsteps sounded from behind the house, getting closer and closer. It had to be a whole battalion.

Dagger unsheathed the dagger at her thigh, "We can fight them off."

Echo shook his head and quickly took the dagger from her hand and put it back in its holster. He packed all his supplies with speed and efficiency, "Not this time Dagger. Not like this. We have to get out of here."

She wanted to argue, but decided against it when a tremor of pain from her stomach ran up her body. She tried to push herself up as Echo snapped the last of his supplies back into his pack.

He swiftly looped his arms behind her back and under her legs and stood. This was the only way he could think of to hold her without aggravating the injury in her abdomen further. Before she could even protest, he was running out of the shattered door frame and through the village towards the woods.

Whimpering at the jerky movements, she stayed as still as possible, arms around Echo's neck as he ran. She went to look out at the courtyard for any of their brothers. Echo pulled her in closer, "Don't look."

He had already seen the shattered remains of his brothers as he had stepped out the door into the night. Tears were pricking at his eyes, he would be haunted for a long time to come at the broken bodies he had seen in the courtyard. There was no chance that they had survived and as much as it hurt, he certainly didn't have time to check.

Dagger didn't need that image to haunt her too, no one did. He was grateful when she obeyed and tucked her head closer to his chest. Echo swallowed thickly, choking down his emotions.

Fear lanced up his spine and threatened to overcome him as he heard the metallic steps of droids getting closer and closer. There were no laser blasts being fired at them so he could assume that they hadn't been spotted yet.

"Command, location not safe. Moving elsewhere, Echo going dark."

He heard the operator start to protest but he quickly turned off the comm so that the droids wouldn't be able to track the signal to them.

Echo ran and ran, he was desperate to get away, the cover of the forest trees provided him with some comfort and the sound of droids lapsed into the distance.

He didn't want to attract the attention of the droids with his helmet lights so he turned them off and switched to night vision on his helmet. The light from the burning fire faded behind him as he ran further and further away.

His legs pumped, keeping him moving at a steady pace. He focused on his breathing, fighting hard to keep it steady as his muscles burned. He was grateful for his ARC training at that moment.

Desperate, all he was thinking of was getting far enough away. Had to get away. Had to keep his partner safe. Dagger needed to be safe.

He felt a hand reach up and hold his neck. He slowed himself to a halt and looked down at Dagger who was looking up at him. Her eyes were so scared, so full of pain, but she still had the strength to nod at him reassuringly, "They aren't following us."

He nodded, panting heavily. He sat them both down, his back against a tree, cradling Dagger's small body in his lap. She tried to say something else to him but her words stuttered and were taken over by a terrible gasping. Coughing and choking on her own blood. Red droplets sprayed from her mouth and onto his face as she tried to hold it in.

She got it under control, but there was only so much that her injured body could handle. Her head swayed and her vision blackened. In the distance, she could hear Echo call out for her attention. He needed her to stay awake, he needed her. She was too far gone and passed into unconsciousness, leaving Echo alone in the forest.

"Dagger! Dagger! Please, you have to stay awake!" he pleaded with her as she went limp in his arms. He tore off his helmet and pressed his head to her chest. It was hard to tell through the remnants of armor but he could hear her heartbeat.

He tried to signal for Command, the med ship, for Captain Rex, for anyone. There was no response, a dead spot in the forest. He was alone in the woods and they were not safe. He picked up Dagger once more and with trembling arms started to walk deeper into the forest.

~B~

The communicator finally gave a beep to indicate that there was a signal. He made a call to command to tell them where he was. They already had a gunship ready with a team of medics and sent it immediately.

Echo looked down at Dagger. She leaned up against him as he sat with his back to a tree. He had been trying to wake her with no success when the comm had alerted him. Through the darkness he heard the whirring of the gun ship as it started to lower into the clearing that he sat in.

He squinted up at the spotlight that was shining down at them. Echo looked down at her face, illuminated by the bright white light still smeared with dirt and blood. He whispered an apology to her as the ship landed.

She had asked him to not tell anyone, but there was no way for the medics to treat her without knowing. If it was between her secret and her life he would choose her life every single time. Even if Dagger would never speak to him again, it would be worth it, she would be alive.

Echo's thoughts ran wild as he lowered her onto the gurney that was placed in front of him. As soon as they were both on board the ship the medical staff surrounded Dagger. Echo was separated and he lost sight of Dagger.

"No! No! DAGGER! What's happening?" he started to panic. He tried to barge his way through the medics. He couldn't see her, was she still alright?

He was pulled off by one of them, who forced him down onto one knee. He forced Echo to look right at him while he shined a small pen light in his eyes, "Look at me soldier. If you don't calm down I'm going to have to sedate you and then you won't be able to see your friend for hours. Is that what you want?"

Echo snapped out of his frenzy and shook his head. The medic smiled, clicking off the light "That's what I thought."

He looked up, puzzled as the medic offered his hand, "I don't know your name."

The medic gave a short laugh, "I just joined the 501st. We got called to this mission before I could introduce myself. The name's Cobalt, I'll be helping Kix in the medbay."

"I'm Echo," he responded as he accepted his hand.

Once standing, he heard yelling from the other medics. Dagger was going into shock. There was a flurry of commotion and he caught a glimpse of her. Pale and small on the gurney, an oxygen mask on her face.

They landed at what was apparently the base camp and quickly unloaded Dagger, transferring her immediately to a medical ship to be taken to the medbay on the Resolute.

Echo followed as closely as he could but he was soon stopped with a firm hand on his shoulder. It was Jesse. Had he not seen Dagger go by just seconds ago?

"Echo we need to go!" he shouted over the sound of gunship engines.

"What?" Echo was still dazed. Where were they going?"

"Vod, where have you been? Everyone has been asking about Charlie squad. Alpha needs your squad and mine to help them take the Capital. We need to go now!"

Jesse's words weren't making any sense to him, the Capital? Why was Alpha squad in the Capital? His look of confusion must have been enough to cause Jesse to explain more.

The tattooed clone pulled Echo along, they boarded the gunship as he explained, "General Skywalker wanted to take the Capital tonight while we still had the element of surprise. Most of my squad is already there. Is yours on the way? Where is Dagger?"

Echo almost lost it at the questions. He wanted to break down and cry. Everyone was dead and Dagger was fighting for her life. He just found out her secret and was being thrown back into the hell that was battle. His hands shook, emotions threatened to boil over.

There were no words to explain to Jesse what had happened. If he even tried he would lose the precarious control he had. If he didn't have a level head he could get himself killed on the battlefield. Then he would never see Dagger, never see Fives, never see anything again.

As if a switch was flipped in him he shut off all of his emotions. His eyes focused forward and he squared his shoulders. He put on his helmet and refused to answer Jesse's questions. The other man looked at him with worry, he knew that look and he knew that something had gone wrong.

There was no more time as the gunship dropped down and the blast doors opened. There was a fierce battle going on below. Blaster shots flashing across the open streets, General Skywalker and Commander Tano were at the front of the charge. Blue and green lightsabers causing streaks of light in the darkness.

Echo, Jesse, and all of the other troopers jumped from the gunship and landed on the open street. Echo spotted blue painted soldiers through the haze of grenades and smoke.

A soldier with double pauldrons spotted them and waved them over to cover hastily. Echo stumbled slightly, everything seemed off kilter. Nothing had gone right today. He skidded to his knees next to Fives, leaning heavily on his brother. He pulled his helmet forward until they were both pressing together.

Fives responded by pushing his helmet forward gently to reciprocate the action, "Echo, what happened?"

He just shook his head, tearing away from his hold. He could feel Five's worried stare through his painted helmet. He focused on the battlefield in front of him, "What have we got, Fives?"

"What we got is a metric fuck ton of droids bearing down on us here. We need reinforcements. It's a good thing you boys showed up when you did,"

They stepped up and started to slowly make their way into the masses of the droids. They circled, back to back, making sure that no droids got the drop on them as they advanced.

"Make your way to the Capital building," came the order over the comm channel, it was General Skywalker. He could be spotted at the front of the charge. Rex fired over the General's right shoulder and led the rest of Torrent company on their attack.

With a nod Echo and Fives advanced, making their way towards the ranking officers of their company. By the time they made it to the building they were panting heavily.

The droids had circled around them and were starting to advance. Once everyone was inside, the General waved his hand and the blast doors of the building came crashing down. They were locked inside, the only openings were small firing windows carved out of the walls, built specifically for an enemy attack.

Echo's heart was racing. He sagged against the wall, out of the way. Fives went to go update Rex on the situation, promising to return soon. He really didn't want to leave his brother alone, but he had to go update Rex.

"Sir there are three battalions of droids out there right now. We have Alpha and Bravo squad with us. Fighters are inbound from the northern battlefront," Fives reported.

Rex looked at the holomap projecting from his wrist brace, "How long until the droids have overrun us?"

"Best guess? Twenty minutes."

"ETA on the fighter squadron?"

Fives smiled, "ETA five minutes with full loads of ammunition and explosives."

"If they don't get all the droids we will need to clean up the remains. Why hasn't Charlie squad reported in yet? I thought I saw Echo."

Fives paused, he didn't know the answer to that. He just looked over to Echo where he was leaning against the wall. The ARC trooper was facing the wall, arms up and crossed, leaning his head into them.

"He's not lookin' too hot right now," Rex said, "I'll be right back Fives."

"As if I'm not coming with you," he scoffed, that was his best friend after all.

Rex accepted without comment and made his way over to Echo. He rested a hand on the trooper's shoulder and frowned when he felt the man's muscles twitch slightly. He tried to ask gently, "Echo, where is your squad?"

He just grit his teeth and looked away from the Captain, even just the question brought the images of bloody bodies to the front of his mind. His head pounded and his body ached.

The only thing he could think of was Dagger laying in his arms, shrapnel protruding from her gut. That was barely a half hour ago. Now she had been taken from him. He had no idea what was happening with her. Was she still alive? Was she safe? Would she still be alive when he saw her next?

Fingers snapped in front of his nose, he looked up at Rex. Since when had he sat down? Why was Rex looking at him like that?

"Echo? Can you hear me? Where is Charlie squad? Are they coming?"

"Coming? Are they coming," anger rose in Echo. Draining what little energy he had left. His voice got louder and he practically shouted at Rex, "They aren't coming, Rex! They're DEAD! DEAD BECAUSE OF ME!"

He paused to breath, chest heaving with exertion. He choked on his next words, "Dagger. Dagger is…"

"ECHO!" the call rang out from across the room. Echo's vision was torn away, looking for the source of the sound. He was unsure of who would be calling for him.

Rex on the other hand had a glazed look in his eyes. He stared straight ahead, it felt like a rock had just been dropped through his gut. Dead? Dagger was dead?

How could that have happened? Dread coursed through him and he wanted to scream. Wanted to kick, punch, and cry. How could this war be so cruel?

He hadn't even been able to come to terms with what he felt for Dagger, much less tell him. Now he was gone. The world seemed to fade out of focus as he was trapped in his mind.

Rex didn't even notice the interaction that happened in front of him. A trooper came striding up quickly, the one who had called Echo's attention away before he had finished his sentence. His helmet was divided vertically with designs. The right side was blank, but on his left the entire surface was covered with intricate crystal designs. A red medic symbol was painted onto his shoulder armor.

The medic came up and grabbed Echo, pulling him to his feet. Echo just looked at him blankly, "Who are you?"

"Oh my stars, are all of you in Torrent company so stupid? I had to track you down all the way from base camp?"

"Cobalt?" Echo asked.

"I'm surprised you aren't dead already," he turned on Rex and Fives, "And you two, why in the universe did you let a man with a concussion back onto the battlefield. And ALSO he could go into shock at any moment from psychological trauma."

"Concussion?" Fives asked, confused.

"Shock?" Rex parroted back.

"Captain I am going to be having a word about this with Kix later, but for now this trooper is coming with me. He needs to be in a hospital, not a battlefield. I didn't even get a chance to tell him to stay put before he had already run out on me," Cobalt seemed to be quite upset at the whole situation.

"It's not the Captain's fault," Echo protested, finally registering what was happening in front of him, "Jesse said that they needed help so I came. It's what we do. No one is to blame."

"Either way, you still shouldn't be here. Let's go," Cobalt started to release Echo from where he had been holding him against the wall, but he immediately started to sag back down.

Echo looked down at his legs, also confused as to why they weren't working. Cobalt let out a huff from behind his helmet. He quickly bent over, wrapping an arm behind Echo's knees and grabbing an arm with another. He hoisted him over his shoulder and quickly strode away.

Echo was surprisingly pliant and didn't even complain as Cobalt lifted him in the air and carried him away. Fives watched him go, information streaming through his head at light speed.

Next to Fives, Rex was having a tough time as well. His knees buckled and he slid down to the ground. His face screwed up in pain and he ground the heels of his hands into his eye sockets.

Wetness collected onto his dirty gloves and his shoulders hitched. His breathing was erratic and he couldn't stop the tears that were falling from his eyes.

Fives sank to his knees, facing Rex. He put his hands on Rex's shoulders, "Hey, hey Rex. Please don't cry, you are gonna scare the men. You are scaring me. It's gonna be ok. It's ok."

The Captain looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, "Dagger is dead Fives. How is it ok? All of Charlie squad is gone."

Fives' lip trembled, he didn't want to accept that, "Maybe Echo was mistaken. He has been known to make an occasional mistake before. Right now we need to make sure we keep those clankers at bay so we can get the kriff out of here, ok?"

Rex nodded, he swiped at his face, clearing the evidence of his uncharacteristic breakdown. He stood in time with the ARC trooper. He squared his shoulders and secured his helmet back on his head.

"Let's get to work Fives," he nodded to the man.

Fives let out a relieved sigh, trying to lighten the mood he joked, "Oh good, Rex is back. I was starting to worry for a minute there Cap."

Rex just nudged his shoulder in response. He looked out one of the tall windows and could see bomber ships flying up in formation. It was as if they were following the roads and going in for a landing.

Instead of doing that, however, they opened the bomb bays and unleashed hell on the droids. Firebombs were dropped over every single platoon and squad of tinnies.

"Oddball never misses," Rex stated. The pilot twirled in craft in the air after finishing the run. A bit unnecessary, but it was like a victory dance to the skilled pilot. At least someone was having a good day.

They headed back to the General, he was scanning the area with R2D2 for any remaining droids. He declared that the droids were all destroyed. It would seem that the battle had been won.

As the gun ships started to land to take them back to the Resolute. Rex looked around to try and see who all was coming home. Gurneys being loaded into the ships. He spotted Echo sitting up on one. Cobalt was standing in front of him with crossed arms, as if to make sure that he didn't escape again.

He had to hand it to the medic, he was serious about his job if he had tracked down Echo through an active battlefield just to yell at him.

Rex looked out at the now rising sun. The colors were beautiful. He sighed, many had not made it through the night to be able to see it. How many had they lost?

All of Charlie squad except for Echo. All nine, he wanted to know what had happened. How had Dagger died? He could hardly even believe it had happened, how was he supposed to understand what had caused it.

There were so many things that he still wanted to say to so many of his men. So many things that he wanted to say to Dagger, things that the man would never hear. His heart ached at all of the things that were left unsaid.

He was walking in a haze as he exited the gunship and started to walk along the hangar of the Resolute. If he had known it was the last time he would ever see Dagger he would have done a lot more than just wave to him as their squads went in separate directions. He would have run to Dagger and hugged him as hard as he could. He would have sent him back to the Resolute, cancelled the entire mission. He would have done anything he could to keep him safe.

He would have told him about his feelings. Rex would have told Dagger how much he cared. All he ever wanted for his men was safety and happiness. For Dagger he wanted to give him the world, he wanted to be the one to care for Dagger. Now he would never have the chance to say or show him any of that.

The last time he had seen Dagger alive felt like an eternity ago. They had all left at twilight. Now the sun was rising almost a full 12 hours later.

~B~

Kix pushed the gurney as fast as he was willing to go. Corric worked on the oxygen bag filling Dagger's lungs with air. The ride back to the Resolute had been a rough one. Dagger had gone into shock before the ship had even left the atmosphere.

Her pulse was rapid and her skin sweaty and cold. Her eyes had opened a few times on the way, but had never remained so for long. Dagger's vision was unfocused and Kix could tell that she didn't quite know what was going on. All she could feel was the pain.

In the medbay they transferred her onto the surgery table. Armor and fabric was cut away to reveal the injuries to her torso. Metal shrapnel, long and jagged in her abdomen.

Kix instructed Corric to give her a pain killer. There was no time for a sedative and he didn't want to try with the amount of blood she may have lost. They needed to get the shrapnel out and stop the bleeding before they could give her a blood transfusion.

It was a good thing she was unconscious anyway. With the painkiller starting to take effect the medics prepared for surgery. Kix shivered as he realized they would have to cut Dagger open more to be able to get it out.

There was a possibility of a severed abdominal aorta, if so this was going to be an intense surgery. They had to work quickly.

With a nod from Kix the medical droid began its surgery procedure. Using a laser scalpel it opened the wound just wide enough to ease the metal out. Kix gasped as blood pulsed out of the wound. The aorta had been cut in some way.

The medical droid was a whirl of instruments, a cauterizer was used where applicable and stitches in other cases. The droid noted that there was puncturing of the intestines. It sewed up the damage and checked to make sure nothing had escaped that could cause sepsis.

Just as the droid started to sew up the lacerated skin a noise erupted from the heart monitor that sent chills down Kix's spine. A monotone beep, no variation, a flat noise.

Dagger had flat lined. Kix jumped forward and immediately started cpr, "No! You are not gonna die tonight!"

Corric charged the defibrillator, he pushed Kix to the side and made sure nothing was touching her body, "Clear!"

Dagger's body jumped as the electricity coursed through her body in an attempt to restart her heart. Still no heartbeat. Another medic droid moved forward to pump the oxygen bag to give air to her lungs. Kix continued chest compressions while the defibrillator recharged.

Another shock and her back arched off the table before dropping back down. No result. Kix put everything he had into the compressions, "Please Dagger, no. You are not allowed to die. You can't not when you have all those brothers out there counting on you. Not when you dying would devastate every single one of us."

Another shock, nothing.

"You have to survive, you have to fight. You damn soldiers don't know how to do anything else. You have to fight Dagger, I know you can do it."

Corric pressed the paddles to her chest, looking at Kix for confirmation to continue. The medic nodded. No heartbeat.

"Fight Dagger! Please we need you."

Another shock, the tone of a flatline droned into the night. Drowning out every other sound of the medbay. No heartbeat only meant one thing and no one was willing to say it.


	38. Chapter 38

Kix refused to give up. He pumped his hands on Dagger's ribcage, "Once more Corric."

"Kix," the medic said gently, "I don't know if that is going to help."

Kix looked at him with desperation in his eyes, "Once more."

Corric nodded and pressed the defibrillator paddles into her chest one last time. Her back arched off the table and slammed back down.

Kix listened closely to EKG, he was listening so hard he jumped when it finally beeped. His eyes went wide, there was another pulse. Slowly and steadily the beats grow stronger.

He set to work to get a blood transfusion started. She had lost a lot of blood, her heart would need more if it was going to keep working properly. The blood slowly started to flow into the vein in her arm.

As soon as the transfusion was done and her wound sewn completely closed Kix ordered the bacta tank to be readied. Corric helped him put her into the harness and attach the breathing tube.

Then they lifted her and placed her in the bacta tank. Kix was hopeful that she would be healed up soon. It had been hours since they had gotten into the medbay, he checked his crono and realized that it would be morning soon on the planet below.

The bacta tank Dagger floated in was moved to the back room. A med droid was tasked with watching her condition and to alert Kix immediately if anything was wrong.

By the looks of the injured streaming in through the doors, the battle was over. There would be a lot of wounded soldiers to deal with.

Kix drew the curtain to keep Dagger's bacta tank out of view and analyzed the room. Most of the injured were sitting up, that was always a good sign. Everyone who was laying down and unconscious was already being attended to.

He spotted Echo sitting on a bed in the corner. The newest medic, Cobalt was standing in front of him. It would seem he was giving Echo a lecture.

Kix strode up and placed a hand on the medic's shoulder, stopping him mid sentence, "Thank you Cobalt, I will take it from here."

He huffed but walked away. Kix pulled out some antiseptic wipes and started cleaning out the shallow cuts on Echo's face as the man started to take off his armor, stacking it neatly on the bed next to him.

"You are probably wondering how Dagger is doing," Kix asked.

Echo nodded, eyes pleading for good news. Kix was eager to tell him, "She is in the bacta now. It was really unsteady for a while. Dagger flatlined during surgery, but we managed to bring her back."

Echo shuddered, he had been so close to losing Dagger. So close to losing his best friend. If not for Kix and the other medics he would have lost her for sure. He looked up at Kix, "She is going to be ok though, right?"

"I can't make any promises, but as long as I have anything to say about it she will."

~B~

Rex was convinced that someone had tied bricks to his boots, he even checked to make sure. Post battle routine was always so hard for him to get through. It was the worst part of his job.

He made his way through the hangar of the Resolute after giving the General his preliminary briefing. He spotted something next to the hangar door that led into the main terminal of the ship. It was a backpack. One of his troopers must have left it in their hurry to get somewhere.

Rex decided to pick it up and bring it back to the barracks with him. As he hoisted the strap over his shoulder the pack made a strange rattling sound. His brow scrunched together and he looked at the CT number printed on the label. It was Echo's pack.

Curious, Rex flipped open the pack to see what had made the noise. The sight of a busted helmet almost sent him to his knees. Dagger's helmet stared up at him. A gaping hole in the face plate as if it had been blasted apart.

The hole was shattered and jagged, sharp pieces of duraplast that were covered in blood. Dagger's blood. Like the helmet, Rex's heart shattered. A choked gasp escaped his throat.

Shoving the helmet back into the pack he wondered once again how this could have happened. How could this world be so cold and cruel? Dagger never would have let that helmet be taken from his head willingly. If the helmet was not with Dagger then surely he was dead. Echo had been right, no matter how much Fives had tried to convince him that Echo was mistaken.

He had many things that he had to attend to. Rex had no time to be thinking about this. Of course that was not true, but it was what he told himself to get his mind off his grief. First of all he needed to shower and change.

The stench of dirt, blood, and blaster fire hung heavy around him. Most of the time he waited in line for the showers. He could easily use his rank to never wait, but it never felt right for him to do so.

After a battle or mission was the only time he would skip the line. However this time there was next to no one in the barracks yet. Only one of the showers was occupied so Rex was quick to wash up.

Rex watched as dirt formed rivers of mud down his legs, the water and soap mixing to wash it away. He liked to imagine that it was taking away all of the bad things. That being clean would make everything be better. It didn't, but it was a nice thought.

He dried off and dressed quickly. Sitting on his bunk he let out a deep sigh. This was the worst part. Packing the things of fallen brothers.

Regulations demanded that uniform items of soldiers who were killed be sent back to Kamino for inspection and then redistribution. The personal items that were bought by troopers were either discarded or repurposed by the sergeants of the company.

Sorting and packing the belongings was the duty of the Torrent Company sergeants. Appo was technically in charge of this job. However, no sergeant had ever performed said job in the entire time that Rex had been the Captain of Torrent.

Appo had tried, when he was newly promoted, but quickly learned that Rex preferred to do it himself. Not because he wanted to do it, but because he knew it was the worst job anyone could be assigned. Rex could never ask anyone to pack the belongings of their own brothers who would never return from the battlefield. He would never order one of his men to do something he was not willing to do himself.

So, Rex packed everything himself. He tried to get everything done before his brothers had a chance to get back to the barracks. Maybe if they didn't have to see the belongings of their brothers they would be spared at least a fraction of the heartbreak he was feeling now.

He scanned the preliminary list of names and corresponding CT numbers. He frowned at how long the list was. He hated this, and he knew that today would be worse than usual.

Dagger had died in this battle and he would be forced to pack his things. The thought tugged on his heartstrings and he had to take a deep breath to steady his emotions. Rex refused to look beyond one name at a time.

His movements were mechanical as he pulled items of clothing out of drawers. He logged every item and put it in the trunk. One by one he went down the list, only one name at a time. Every time he finished a bunk he prayed to the universe that it was the last one. That had not been the case for the last six bunks.

There was a small voice in the back of his head that told him that he should be grateful that none of the names had been Dagger so far. The voice told him that Dagger might still be alive. Maybe the broken helmet didn't mean anything.

All it would take would be a call to Kix and ask. He couldn't bring himself to pick up the comm. He didn't want to give himself hope. Dagger was dead and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't think that he would be able to take the heartbreak he was feeling again if he allowed himself to have hope.

The stack of trunks by the door grew steadily as troopers started to return. They greeted him softly as they made their way to the showers. Everyone knew how hard it was for Rex to be doing this, they were grateful that it didn't have to be them. His brothers were always so gentle with him on these days. Rex didn't know if that was better or worse.

He was startled when a hand landed on his shoulder. He straightened up from where he was leaning over Flicker's bunk and saw Appo standing in front of him.

The sergeant gave him a sad smile, "Kix wanted to see you, Captain."

"Thank you Appo, I'll go once I'm done here," he answered, unwilling to leave the task unfinished. It didn't feel right.

"Rex, none of this stuff is going anywhere. You forcing yourself to do it all at once is only hurting you more. Go see Kix, everything will still be here when you return," Appo was very convincing with his words.

Rex took one last mournful look around the room and nodded, "Thank you Appo. I'll be back soon to finish up. You don't need to do anything, just keep an eye on everyone for me."

"Copy that Captain," Appo replied.

Rex walked out the barracks, dropping his datapad on his bunk as he left. He looked up at Dagger's bunk. His heart wishing he saw the clone sleeping on it post battle. Striped helmet face down into the pillow sleeping like a plank. He frowned when that wasn't the case. He berated himself mentally for even checking.

As the durasteel doors slid closed behind Rex Appo stepped forward. He gently took the datapad from Rex's bunk. He got to work on everything that the Captain left unfinished. He knew that the Captain would scold him later, but it would be worth it.

Rex always did everything he could to protect his men, it hurt him just that much more when they died under his command. Appo would do anything that he could to help his Captain.

~B~

Rex entered the medbay. He looked around at all of his men in various states on all of the beds. Medics and droids moved with purpose between them. Kix was busy attending to Cricket at the moment. The man had taken a blaster shot to the shoulder. Kix would be busy for a minute.

So, Rex made his way to where he saw Fives sitting next to a cot. Echo was asleep on said cot, his breathing soft and steady.

"How is he doing," Rex asked.

"He's good. Concussion and minor scrapes and cuts. He told me about an explosion before the drugs kicked in. He said that one of our own fighters crashed into the village Charlie Squad was clearing. The fuel tank exploded on impact and destroyed everything in the open," Fives was speaking to Rex, but his eyes never left Echo's body. He was afraid if he were to stop watching his friend he would cease to exist.

"Stars," Rex whispered, "How did Echo even survive?"

"He was still inside at the time, I think he was the only one to see it coming. If he would have known he would have done everything to save his men. I know he would have. This isn't his fault Captain."

Rex put his hand on Fives' shoulder in reassurance, "I know Fives. No one is to blame. I'm glad Echo is going to be ok."

"Captain," Kix called, finally realizing that he was here. Rex gave a nod to Fives before going over to meet the medic in front of an empty cot.

"Kix, I was busy. What did you call me down here for?"

"I called you down to check you over. I know how you work Rex, you have to be ordered down here practically every time," Rex started to protest Kix's words, but he was cut off by the medic, "And I will give you the rundown of all the troops while you let me make sure you aren't injured."

Kix made a motion with his hands and Rex hopped up on the cot to sit reluctantly. He knew better than to argue with Kix in this situation. The medic had actually sedated him last time he had tried to walk out of medbay without getting treatment for an injury. Rex had been pissed for a week, Kix had been smug for two.

"So? Start at the worst and get better as we go?" Kix asked.

Rex nodded, it was the best way to do things. Kix checked his data pad briefly before putting it down next to Rex and starting his examination.

"We got two in the bacta tanks. Hardcase took a shot to the leg, just muscle damage but we stuck him in there to keep him from walking on it. He would probably end up making the injury worse anyway. Dagger needed surgery for his injuries though. Flatlined for about ten minutes, we were able to get him back and stable before putting him in the bacta. I'm worried about him, but Dagger is a fighter, I think he'll pull through."

Rex's heart raced so fast he thought it was going to jump out of his chest. Kix kept on talking as if he hadn't just given Rex the best news he ever had been given. He was shocked into silence at the knowledge that Dagger was still alive.

Dagger was alive. How? Rex couldn't believe it. Alive. Safe on the Resolute. Kix placed a stethoscope to his chest and looked at the Captain as he heard his racing heart.

"Captain? What's wrong?"

"Dagger?" Rex asked, eyes watering, "Dagger is alive?"

"Of course Dagger is alive. Were... Were you told differently?"

Rex nodded, a tear broke free and streaked down his face, "He's alive Kix. Kix! Dagger is alive. I get to see him again!"

Rex moved to jump off the bed to try and find Dagger immediately. Kix was faster, he planted his hands on the cot on either side of Rex's hips effectively caging him to the confines of the cot, "Whoa, whoa. You aren't going anywhere. First of all I haven't finished checking you over. Second Dagger is in the bacta tank, you aren't allowed to see him."

"The hell I can't Kix. I'm allowed to oversee the treatment of all my men," he didn't understand why Kix wouldn't let him see Dagger.

"Dagger's helmet was destroyed in the blast. It wouldn't be fair for me to let you see him without it while he is unconscious. That is a choice he has to make on his own," Kix said. He did not mention the other repercussions there could be if Rex found out her secret like this.

Rex looked down, realizing his mistake, "Oh, yeah. That's ok Kix, you're right. I understand. It's enough just to know that he is alive and safe."

"While you wait, I'm sure Dagger would appreciate it if you were to find him a new helmet from supply. What do you think Cap?"

Rex smiled and nodded. It looked like everything might turn out ok. Dagger was alive, he still had a chance to tell him how he felt. Once Dagger was healed he would do just that. All he had to do was figure out how to tell the man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! I'm sorry for all the cliffhangers. Things will start to get a bit better from here. I have been trying to post regularly for the past month or however long this story has been going. However, now I'm back at Uni and need to focus on school work. I won't be giving up on this story I promise, but please do not expect updates as often as they have been in the past. I will be updating when I have the time to write, but that might not be every three days. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and would consider leaving a review telling me what you thought of it.


	39. Chapter 39

Rex's walk back to the barracks was much lighter than the walk to the medbay. There was still a sadness and grief that hung heavy in his heart. But his heart was no longer shattered from the loss of the most important person to him. He had lost many men in this battle, but he hadn't lost Dagger.

He let out a sigh of relief, in all honesty he didn't know if he would have been able to take the burden of accepting that Dagger was gone. He relished in the fact that he was still alive, with Kix taking care of him in the medbay.

Rex entered the barracks doors and his eye was caught by something stacked to his right. A small tower of trunks. Appo.

His head snapped over to the sergeant's bed. Appo was lounging back against the wall on the floor level bunk, he was writing on a small piece of paper. He grinned up at Rex as the Captain approached, "Did you want to talk to me, Captain?"

"Appo," he couldn't keep the exhaustion out of his voice, "I told you that you didn't have to do that."

Appo blinked up at him, "I don't know what you are talking about sir. I just did what I could to help you. The boys are getting ready for the Night of Songs."

Rex nodded, "I have a few things to do before then. Would you be able to go round the medbay and see who all wants to come who can. I'll meet you boys on the observation deck in a bit. Don't start without me."

"Of course, Captain. We will see you there."

~B~

Echo woke up with a start, his head was pounding with only one thought. Dagger. He sat up quickly, his head protested at the movement but he forced himself to look around.

Fives, who had been snoring softly in the chair next to Echo, was startled awake. The man shot up from his chair with a shout as if prepared for an attack. His eyes snapped around the room before landing on Echo. The injured trooper was sitting up on the medical cot, panting heavily.

Fives laid a hand on Echo's shoulder, he could feel his brother's shoulders trembling slightly, "Hey Vod. How are you feeling?"

"Dagger?" he asked, voice rough and strained.

"Kix said he is gonna be alright, in the bacta now. Said you got a mighty concussion too. Why didn't you say anything Echo? You know you shouldn't have come to the Capital with an injury like that. You could have been killed," Fives was trying to scold his brother, but his words held too much worry behind them to be effective.

Echo held his head in his hands, "I just- I just wasn't thinking. Fives, I can't believe what happened? Tell me it wasn't real, please. Tell me that they are still alive. Flicker, Dredge, anyone?"

His eyes were so pleading, begging Fives to tell him what he wanted to hear. Fives couldn't bear to look Echo in the eyes as he responded, "I'm sorry Echo. It's just you and Dagger that made it back."

Echo let out a loud breath, much like a balloon deflating. His shoulders sank and his head stayed low. Echo didn't move for a long moment and Fives seemed content to give him all the time he needed. Echo always took the deaths of his men, his brothers, exceptionally hard.

It was one of the traits he picked up from Captain Rex. None of them ever took the losses lightly, but those two always seemed to be that much more destroyed with every soul lost. All Fives wanted to do was help his brother. He knew that, for now, he just had to wait.

Sometimes Echo broke down, sometimes he got mad, and sometimes he just stayed quiet. Only time would tell what he would do to cope. Yet Fives still couldn't imagine how this wouldn't end in a breakdown. Echo had lost everyone, well almost. He had come so close to losing Dagger, someone he cared a lot about. He would need to keep a close eye on the man tonight.

Echo's silence was interrupted by the medbay door opening up and Appo striding in. All heads turned to the sergeant as he announced, "We are meeting on the observation deck for the songs. Anyone who wants to come should head over now."

With that he left, presumably to go to the observation deck. Fives looked back to Echo to ask if he wanted to go. He shouldn't have wasted even the little brain power required to wonder at the question as Echo was already swinging his legs over the side of the cot.

He was still in full armor, minus the helmet, and his boots clunked heavily on the duracrete floor. Fives stayed close by, ready to help if Echo needed it. The man did seem to be doing fine on his own.

Echo had a pounding headache but he would be damned if he was not going to honor his brother's tonight. After his failure they deserved at least that. Echo could feel Fives following him and he almost felt bad for not being able to vocalize what was going through his head.

He knew that Fives could be patient when he wanted to be, so he trusted that he would wait for Echo to talk to him.

Inside the observation deck there was a low light. The overhead lights were out and there were candles on a low table in the middle of the room. Almost all of Torrent Company was there, sitting in circles around the table. Fives and Echo found spots in the outermost circle and sat down quietly. Everyone's heads were bowed and the only sound was that of the soft breathing of the men.

Their own ceremony was nothing like the kote ky'ram, the traditional Mandalorian burial ritual. That was a loud ceremony that honored those who had died facing impossible odds. In a kote ky'ram the warrior was cremated while their tribe shouted all war cries and stories into the sky.

Clones did not get the luxury of being cremated. There were rarely even bodies to be buried. All that they had left were memories and aching hearts. The ceremony of the clones was a heavily modified one. They would pray to the universe that an afterlife would be more kind to their fallen brethren than life had been.

Clones did not get the luxury of believing in a creator of mythical proportions. They know exactly how they came into being, they knew exactly what their purpose was. But they did believe in an afterlife. It was one of the few comforts they had in times like these. It was something they couldn't prove, something they couldn't disprove. So they just believed.

The ceremony was a sad one, remembrance of their brothers. Men who fought and died for the Republic. Never again would they see another day. Never again would they see another battle.

One by one they all bowed their heads. All of the brothers sat in their own spot, close to the others but not touching. They all acknowledged that they grieved in different ways, but for tonight they were all alone together.

The silence stretched in the room, but the minds of the soldiers were loud. Thoughts of every name, every life that was lost. They re-lived moments of interaction in their mind's eye. Some held more pain than the others.

Even on the bridge of the ship, the Jedi could feel their grief. Ahsoka shared a look with her master. They both knew what was happening, they knew the pain that their loyal soldiers were feeling. The Jedi knew that there was nothing they could do to help, but they also did nothing to interfere.

No commands were given, no requests were made that night. No clone was asked to do anything at all by the Jedi. They were given this time to be on their own in hopes that maybe just for a moment they could forget about the war, forget about being soldiers, and just be individuals who were grieving.

The minutes stretched in the observation deck. The stars shone outside, stretched far away in the distance. No one knows how long later it was when the first voice was heard.

A low and small sound. Hardly a whisper. It was Mandoa. One shaky voice finally starting the song of remembrance. It came from near the center of the circles. Fives couldn't tell if it was Appo or Rex who had started it, but the other quickly joined in.

Two whispers became three which then became five. Growing exponentially, the amount of voices grew. Soon everyone was singing. Mandoa flowed through the air, sound ghosted over the faces over the brothers as if it were a touch.

We are born to die. We live to be remembered.

It was a promise. A promise that the fallen will always be remembered. If you listened hard enough you could hear the voices of the dead sing along. One last act to bring comfort to those they knew were left behind.

Life is a gift everyone cherishes but has to return.

Echo could hear them. He heard Flicker and Dredge. He could feel the weight of their hands on his shoulders. He could imagine turning around and seeing them behind him, reassuring him that it would all be ok, telling him that they were still with him.

All he wanted to do was look back and see his brothers behind him. He wanted to see their faces just one more time. He couldn't bring himself to turn. He knew better, he knew it would only make it harder.

Instead Echo raised his chin and sang louder, the first voice to raise. He sang to the universe of the bravery of his brothers. His voice was not the only one to raise. Others joined him, the volume of the room rising.

They sang of loss and wounds that would never heal. They sang of the unfairness of life and prayed to the universe for peace of soul for their brothers.

Echo pleaded for peace, his voice trembled and he refused to acknowledge the tears that streaked down his face. Secure in the notion that no one was looking at him, he let the tears fall. Everyone was alone tonight. They were together in this room, but they each grieved alone. No one would judge anyone for feeling the same thing that they were.

We start as nothing, we become something, then we return to nothing.

Echo cried, his voice wavered but never stopped. He had been the cause of his brother's deaths. He was the reason that they were not here with them. He had killed eight men and injured his best friend. He was the only one who had made it out relatively unscathed.

Why was it this hard to be the one that survived? He should be glad, he had been given another day to live. Why was it so painful to carry on?

All he wanted to do was howl into the night. Scream at the pain in his chest until it stopped. Instead, he closed his eyes and continued to sing. A repetition of words that were soothing to the soul.

The first time through the song was always the hardest. Talking of grief and feeling all of the pain. Then the second time it was of accepting the pain. Over and over the song was repeated.

There was no exact length of time that this would go on. They would sing until every single brother had accepted what had happened. They would sing together until everyone was finally numb to the pain. Stable enough to go on, until the lost had been honored properly.

One by one the voices quieted again. One last time through the song, as a whisper. A perfect reflection of the first time through the pain filled song.

Soon there was no noise in the room. No one dared to speak, no one dared to move. The stillness was suffocating. Breaths were shallow in an attempt to make them quieter.

As Captain of the unit, it was Rex's job to initiate the next part of their tradition. He stood from his spot in the center circle. He walked slowly, boots hardly making a sound on the duracrete floor, to the table in the middle. He was the only one of them who could walk that quietly, steps ghosting over the floor. He kneeled and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

The small piece of paper had lines of small writing on it. Last thoughts that he wanted to give to the dead. For Rex, it was always an apology. He said he was sorry to every single man he had failed as a leader and as a brother.

He took the paper and held the corner into one of the flames at the table. He watched as the paper burned in his grasp until the flames drew so close to his fingertips that he could feel the heat. When he couldn't hold onto the paper any longer he dropped the remains onto the metal table and returned to his seat.

Echo was the next to stand. He mirrored Rex's actions, pulling out the paper that he had written before he had passed out in the medbay. He burned it in the fire of the largest candle before dropping it on the table.

Jesse was the next to go, followed by Appo, then Cricket and Oddball. One by one anyone who wanted to send a last message to their brothers stood. When everyone was seated again there was more of the same silence.

Echo twitched, he knew what came next. He knew that it was a prayer for the living to keep fighting. A prayer for Dagger to survive the injuries that he had caused. Whether intentionally or not it was still his fault.

His stomach rolled and he lurched to his feet. He couldn't stay, he couldn't do it. He knew it was odd to leave early, but he couldn't be here. He made his way to the door, quick bootsteps disturbing the quiet of the observation deck.

Fives watched him leave with concern in his eyes, then his gaze jumped to Rex. The Captain locked eyes with the Arc trooper with a look that told him to do as he wished.

No one had to come to this, no one was forced to stay. Fives could follow Echo if he wanted to. The Arc frowned, he wanted to go help Echo, but he wanted to stay. In the end he stayed where he was seated, he would go after Echo as soon as he was done.

~B~

Echo walked down the hallway. Head drooping, feet dragging, he practically stumbled on his way to the barracks. He felt like he had been put through an emotional meat grinder. How much more would he have to go through before he felt ok again?

Echo entered the empty barracks and a feeling of numbness washed over him. He gathered a pair of extra clothes and made his way to the showers.

Once inside, he started unbuckling his armor piece by piece. He was just undoing the buckle behind his left shoulder when his memory flashed back to yesterday morning when he was securing that very buckle on Dagger's armor.

Slipping on his bicep guard he saw Dagger reaching up and holding Rex's arm on the way down to the planet. She had talked to Echo the whole ride down to the planet through the internal helmet comms.

Rex had huffed at them for clogging up the comms and told them to switch to a private frequency so the rest of them could get a moment of peace. Dagger had laughed at that.

He took off his chest plate. When they landed he had turned to watch the rest of his brothers disembark. Dagger got bumped as she jumped down and ended up tripping. Echo had laughed and made a joke about being clumsy. Dagger had immediately punched him in the chestplate. He let the armor fall to the floor.

Sliding off his gloves, he watched his hands raise. He snapped the mechanical neck of a commando coming right at Dagger. The tinny fell, but Dagger was still on the ground.

His vision flashed back and forth between the empty bathroom and the events of the day. The memories were getting darker and darker as the day streamed through his head.

A crashing fighter jet. The explosion. Waking up to a strange voice. Finding out that Dagger is a girl. How was that even possible? He didn't understand. Droids closing in on them. The bodies of the brothers he wished he could have saved.

Running as fast as he could, carrying an injured Dagger in his arms. The agonizing wait for the med ship to get her the medical attention she desperately needed. The panic trying to figure out if she was going to be ok. Being thrown back into battle.

Now there was nothing. A silent room, he was alone. Ears ringing, he looked down at his hands. It was a mistake.

There was blood coating every part of his hands, it must have soaked through the gloves and dried on his skin. Dagger's blood from when he was trying to clean up her injuries or stop the bleeding in her abdomen.

His hands shook as the red took over his vision. Tears streamed down his face, he couldn't handle his emotions, they were too strong to just push down anymore.

He scrubbed his hands in the sink desperate to get the blood off of them. He couldn't stand the reminder of how close he was to failing every single person in his team. Sadness was turning to guilt and anger.

Echo should have done more. He should have been paying more attention. If he had been better at his job he wouldn't have lost so many brothers today.

Echo looked up at the mirror, his face speckled in blood, not even his blood. The blood from Dagger's body. She had coughed up blood and it was still splattered on the side of his face.

He saw something in that reflection looking back at him, but he wasn't seeing his face anymore. The thing about having the same face as your brothers is that it haunts you. He saw the broken and bloody faces of those lost, those that he had failed. Bodies left on a battlefield covered in dust and rubble.

Everything was his fault. He let out a scream that was true to his name, echoing out the barracks and into the hall. He lashed out, swiping everything off of the counter.

Echo looked into his reflection and screamed at it. Throwing his fist into the glass over and over again until it was in shattered pieces all around him. He couldn't look at himself anymore. Had to get rid of the face that had failed so many today.

Not even knowing what he was saying, he just kept screaming questions of why and cursing every deity he knew. He cursed the Separatists, the Republic, the Kaminoans, even himself.

He couldn't even hear the banging on the bathroom door over his pained rampage. Within seconds the door was kicked open.

Rex hesitated, he hadn't known who was yelling from the barracks bathroom, but when he had heard the glass shatter he knew it couldn't have been good. When he saw Echo, screaming bloody murder, half undressed, and bleeding he was stunned. He had thought that the Arc trooper had gone back to the medbay.

Even in the roughest of battles Echo had never lost his composure so severely. The man looked like he was imploding in on himself. Quickly, Rex shook himself out of his shock and saw Echo pounding on the counter with a bloody fist.

Running at him, he grabbed the man around the waist, ducking under the fists. He pushed him back until he rammed into the wall. Echo let out a grunt of surprise and tried to escape.

Before he could get far Rex pressed forward, pinning him against the wall. His hands holding Echo's wrists above his head. Knees on the outside of Echo's legs effectively trapping him there. The wall they had slammed into was evidently inside one of the shower stalls because all of a sudden they were both soaked. Cold water rained down on the two and Echo slowly started to calm down.

He took a shuddering breath and looked at Rex. For being the same size he felt so much smaller at that moment. Rex's eyes were calm, but filled with concern. Their chests panted against each other, heat seeping through the now doused fabric.

"We all have bad days Echo. You did everything you could. I know you are angry and hurt, we all are. Don't you think that we have lost enough today? I can't let you add yourself to the list."

When Echo spoke, his voice was cracked and filled with a desperate kind of anger, "I couldn't do a damn thing to protect Dagger. I couldn't do anything but watch 'em get blown to bits. I couldn't protect anyone. Only reason we are still here is 'cause I was further from that fuckin' door that was blow into Dagger's face."

"I know it's hard Echo, but I also know that you did everything you could for those boys. They don't blame you and neither does Dagger. Please don't do this to yourself."

"I'm sorry sir," Echo said looking down.

Rex relaxed his grip slightly, giving the trooper room to breath but not room enough to leave. He pulled down Echo's hand to examine it. The man let out a hiss as the cold water ran over the broken and bloody skin. Rex quickly picked out the visible glass shards in the hand.

"I can get that myself sir," Echo protests.

"I know."

They were silent as Rex finished what his self assigned task. Soon enough the Captain left, a trail of water following him out of the bathroom. Echo took his time slowly undressing the rest of the way. His blacks fell to the ground with a wet plop. He washed himself off, dirt and grime ran down the drain taking the rest of his negative thoughts with them.

When he finally exited, Echo felt better than he had before. He wasn't great, but at least he wasn't going psychotic anymore. Dressed in his off duty trousers and shirt he finally went back to the barracks. Rex was sitting on his bunk looking down at Dagger's broken helmet which he held in his lap.

He didn't even remember putting the helmet down. Echo sat on Commander Cody's old bunk, across from Rex. Watching and waiting for the Captain to say something. The silence wasn't as suffocating as Echo would have thought, it was peaceful. Rex knew he was there and he would talk to him if he wanted.

The minutes stretched on, Echo wasn't expecting Rex to speak. Just as he was deciding to leave Rex spoke up, "What happens now is not up to us. We do our work on the battlefield. Now it is our turn to watch, you can't blame yourself for what happens. Dagger is going to need someone with him when he wakes up."

"Thank you Captain," the trooper stood and walked out, leaving Rex alone in the barracks.

The Captain knew he should be doing something more productive, reports or files, but he couldn't get himself to move.

Still examining the broken helmet he had to admit Dagger was lucky to be alive. That blast had to have been strong to rip apart armor like this. He would go down to the armory and get a new one before Dagger was out of the Medbay.

A small part of Rex wanted to not get a new helmet, not letting the kid hide behind it any longer. He knew it was a bad idea, and he would never force one of his men into a situation they were uncomfortable with. Especially not now, after all the trauma that Dagger had suffered.

He laid back on his bed, holding the helmet up to his face looking into the remains of the eye visor. As if looking into the helmet would give him some sort of clue of how Dagger was doing. Rex pressed his forehead into the broken armor, trying to draw any comfort he could from the once familiar face of Dagger. The only face that he knew the man by.

He itched to go to the Medbay and check on his trooper. He hated the feeling of not knowing, he had to trust that the medical staff knew what they were doing. Kix would do everything he could to save a brother.

Soon enough all of the energy had left Rex's body. Laying down, still holding the helmet, he fell asleep. It had been a long day for all of them, he had faith that Dagger would make it through. He had never known the trooper to give up on anything, he knew he wouldn't start now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter for you guys today, I hope you enjoyed it! Please consider leaving a comment to let me know what you think.


	40. Chapter 40

_The dagger flashed in the night. Silver metal shone in the moon of an unknown planet. Red blood dripped down the lethal edges. The handle was held tightly in a black glove._

_Dagger looked down at the dagger in her hand. Was that her hand? Who else's hand could it be?_

_She didn't recognize where she was. Had she been here before? The wind whipped around her. Shouts could be heard along with the clanging of armor. Was there a battle going on? Where her brothers in danger._

_A hushed whisper ghosted by her ears. She turned quickly, "Who's there?"_

_There was no one. Just empty night all around her._

Carry on.

" _What do you want?" she yelled._

Kotep Runi. Brave Soul. Kotep Runi.

" _Who are you?!"_

The dagger is the key. The dagger. THE DAGGER!

_Something was running at her. A shadowy figure, chanting like a mad man. Over and over and over. THE DAGGER._

_It was so close and yet she still couldn't see what it was. A man? A monster?_

_THE DAGGER! THE DAGGER!_

_She could feel the hot breath on her face. Everything in her body was screaming at her to move. Her muscles weren't responding, she couldn't move. It was going to get her!_

_~B~_

"Dagger!"

She gasped awake, eyes assaulted by the white lights of the medbay. Her hands came up to try and protect her face. She grabbed the first thing that her hands came into contact with. That just happened to be Kix's shirt.

The medic, who had been cleaning her face with a damp rag, now he held her by the shoulders, pinning her gently to the bed. She looked up at him with eyes blurry and panicked from the nightmare that still raced through her heart.

Kix's soft eyes looked at her, "Nightmare?"

She nodded, trying to get her breath under control. He rubbed her shoulders, "It's ok kid. We all have them."

She laid her head back on the pillow and Kix brought the rag up to her short hair to wipe out some of the remaining bacta in it. Her brain was still a bit slow and she looked up at her brother, "What do you have nightmares about Kix?"

His hand stilled and he looked at her, "I have nightmares about you, Jesse, Rex, Cody, about all of you. I'm standing still in the middle of a battlefield, one by one you are all shot down. You scream for my help. I'm the only one who can save you, all I have to do is get to you fast enough. I run, fast as I can. I always run to you boys. I'm always seconds too late. I make it to Jesse's side just as the life fades from his eyes. He is so scared, I can see him begging for help. I can't get there fast enough, I'm not good enough to save their life."

He took a trembling breath and looked away for a moment. Then he spoke again, "Nightmares are a part of who we are, but they don't define who we can be. I refuse to believe that I will let anyone die. I will always save you and the rest of our brothers."

"Did I almost die, Kix?"

The medic smiled good-naturedly, "In the time I have known you, Dagger, I have never known you to do anything half way. You did die, but not to worry my medical expertise brought you back to the world of the living."

Dagger let out a breath of air, as if she had been punched in the chest, "What happened?"

"You were in an explosion. Echo pulled you out and the evac team found him holding you in the woods. We brought you to the medbay as fast as we could. You were in surgery for most of the night, there was shrapnel embedded in your abdomen. That was when you flatlined. I- I thought that we had lost you. Then we finally got your pulse back and were able to stabilize you enough to get you into the bacta tank. Just pulled you out a little bit ago. And as you can see you still got some goo on ya so I was cleaning off your hair."

"What happened to Echo? Charlie squad? Are they ok?"

Kix looked down, "Echo is fine, just a mild concussion, but Charlie's squad wasn't so lucky. The blast that nearly killed you took them all out. There was nothing we could have done to save them. They died instantly, I'm sure of it."

Dagger nodded, tears pricking her eyes, "So they didn't suffer at all?"

"No, they wouldn't have even felt it."

There was a lapse of silence. Neither knew quite what to say in the face of losing their brothers. Kix knew that Dagger would need a moment to comprehend that they had just lost eight lives from their squadron. He would wait for her to absorb the information. He just hoped that she wouldn't take it as harshly as Echo or Rex would.

With a sad smile she looked up at the medic, determination shone in her eyes, "Next time, Kix. I promise we will save them next time."

Kix grinned, "I know we will kid. You need to rest, get your strength back. I'll be back later."

He made to leave but she caught his arm before he could pull away, "Wait, I need to ask you something."

Kix turned back to face her again, he gestured for her to continue with what she had to say.

"Does everyone know?" Dagger's voice was small and sad. She had really wanted to be the one to tell them what she was, but just like last time it had been revealed in circumstances that she could not control.

"No, just the medics and Echo," he said, "Your secret is safe with us."

Dagger turned her head away, "Oh."

Kix's eyebrows scrunched up, "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"No, it's not that. Even though it does feel like there is a hole in my stomach, whatever meds you gave me seem to be doing wonders. I just wanted to be the one who told him. He probably hates me now for hiding from him. He probably won't ever talk to me again."

"Hey!" Came a small shout from just beyond the curtain that separated the small space from the next cot. Both Kix and Dagger looked over at the sudden sound. Dagger's eyes widened as she saw Echo standing there.

"I resent that you would say that," he said, walking closer with a small smile on his face, "I mean really, how could I hate my best friend?"

Dagger gasped, "Echo, I- I'm sorry for hiding from you. I'm so sorry."

The tears from earlier were back with a vengeance and when being faced with Echo's kind smile they were set loose. A sob wrenched it's way out of her throat and Echo reached forward.

He looped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug as he sat on the side of her bed. He brushed his hand over the short cropped hair on the back of her head and spoke to her softly.

"Hey, it's ok Dagger. Don't you worry 'bout a thing, I promise I'm not mad at you. I can certainly tell you that I would never hate you. Dagger, you were just doing what you thought was right."

Her fingers dug into the back of his shirt and she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. He could feel her tears run from her cheeks onto his skin. He rubbed small circles along her back to try and comfort her. He could feel her small body tremble.

Kix put a hand on Echo's opposite shoulder and gave him an understanding nod. Then the medic turned and walked out of the small space and into the main area of the medbay.

"Echo," she whispered through her tears, "I'm sorry."

He pulled back slightly and tilted her head back so she looked him in the eyes. He smiled, realizing this was the first time he really got a chance to look at her eyes, "Hey now, there is no need for the waterworks. I said it once before and I'll say it again, I don't care what you look like, I care who you are inside. Just because I know you were hiding doesn't mean you aren't my favorite person any more. I always knew you were hiding, I just didn't know what it was."

"But I'm not your brother anymore. I can't be the person you thought I was."

"You have always been more than just a brother to me Dagger. Just 'cause you've got girl cooties doesn't mean you aren't my brother anyway. It's more of a status or title than a state of being anyway."

She clutched his back just a little tighter, her breathing had evened out again, "Thank you Echo."

He flashed her a bright smile, "Also, good news that Fives doesn't have to freak out because you are a gungan."

She groaned, "Are we really going to bring that up again?"

He chuckled, drawing his hands back into his lap, letting her lay back against the mound of pillows. As she leaned back he could see her pain that the action caused. Her eyes flickered down to his hands, his knuckles were cut and blood was in the process of drying. She looked back up at him sharply, "What happened to your hands?"

His gaze shifted away, "Oh you should see the other guy, he got the worst of it."

Dagger frowned at the Arc trooper and he hunched into himself slightly, "I got angry and punched out one of the mirrors in the barracks locker room."

"Echo!"

"I'm fine!" He insisted, "I'm actually really worried about you. Are you in pain?"

If she were to be honest with herself she felt like she was three seconds away from falling apart at the seams. If she could just make it through this conversation without falling back asleep that would be nice.

She really wanted to talk to Echo, but her head was starting to slow with exhaustion weighing heavy. She was in a bit of pain, but she didn't want to worry him, "No, I'm just tired right now. I'm sure Kix has me on all kinds of pain meds. Did you know I had shrapnel in me?"

She pointed to the bandage on her stomach, "Can you believe that? Right through the abdonomightus."

"Abdomen, and yes I knew. I was the first one to see it," he was trying to keep his thoughts light. He was trying to be strong for Dagger, but it was so hard to not think about what could have happened.

Dagger laid a hand on his forearm, "Thank you for saving me Echo. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

She yawned and he smiled softly, "Let's not make a habit out of that ok? I need you to stay safe. But for now you need some sleep, I'll be here when you wake up."

She nodded, "You need sleep too Echo, I don't think I'll be running off anytime tonight."

They shared a long look and Echo nodded quietly. Dagger was already half asleep when he stood up from where he was perched on the side of the cot. He sat down heavily in the chair that was next to the cot. His legs really didn't feel like they could hold him for much longer, but he couldn't bring himself to leave just yet.

He finally had a chance to just sit quietly and just watch over Dagger. It was the only thing that he wanted to do right now. Even after everything that had happened today, he still felt the breath get knocked out at the sight he saw.

Dagger, laying on the pristine white sheets, legs not even extending close to the end of the bed. He knew she was short but seeing her in a bed made for full grown clones and not even being able to take up a majority of the space was startling.

Her skin was pale, amplified by the white of the bed sheets. This only made the bruises on her skin more apparent. They were deep purple and speckled with red. Echo didn't even want to imagine how bad they were before she went into the bacta tank. She had cuts all over her face, some were left uncovered while others were held together with butterfly closures.

For the first time all day, Echo heard Coric's voice from behind him, "She is lucky to be alive, certainly wouldn't be if you hadn't been there."

Echo nodded numbly, unable to take his eyes off of her face. Aside from all of the injuries, it was still startling to actually be able to see her face. He had never even seen any skin that was above her neck.

He moved slowly, as if she were going to suddenly wake up again and yell at him for not going to sleep. He brushed a short tuft of hair back to fall in line with the rest of her hair. Echo was honestly more spooked by her being so still. Echo sat there, eyes never once leaving Dagger's face.

In his peripheral vision he saw Kix pull Coric away and quietly ushered him to the otherside of the room to give him some privacy. Echo didn't care what they did at the moment, he was stuck looking at his friend.

It was an odd fascination, her face so still and emotionless. As if the helmet was still on and he couldn't read her emotions through it.

He couldn't get over how pale her skin was, whether it was from blood loss or just too little sun he didn't know. She had a face so similar to the other clones but at the same time so different.

Her jaw was less squared and her nose smaller. Her hair was longer than other clones, only by a fraction. It was as if Fives would grow out the top of his hair and shave down the sides more. Not quite within regs, but Tup got away with long hair every inspection.

He wondered if she ever didn't wear her helmet would it be styled up into short spikes or combed up and back. It was dark brown, like freshly turned dirt on a farm.

What? Why was the first analogy in his head of literal dirt? He shook his head, he wasn't good at analogies anyway. And he certainly didn't know how to deal with a female. Wait. He had to backtrack his thought process.

Dagger wasn't just some female, she was his friend, his brother. He didn't need to act any certain way around her. He could almost see her punching him if he were to try something like that.

Echo wanted her to wake up so he could talk to her again, he didn't like the silence. Dagger always talked with him. Well at least she always listened as he talked to her. She seemed to like listening and only providing input at certain times.

That's all he wanted, he wanted her back, wanted her safe. Just like this. There was less weight on his shoulders now that Kix had told him that she would be ok. She was strong and would pull through.

Kix came by and helped him bandage up his hand. As well as scold him for doing something so stupid.

"I mean honestly Echo, do you enjoy making more work for me? Do you think that all I want to do all day is bandage you boys up?" is what the medic had said before he left to ultimately bandage more people up.

The exhausting day was finally starting to catch up to him as he sat in that chair. A quiet room and being still was not conducive for him to stay awake, especially when he was running on fumes. Despite the uncomfortable chair, he was passed out in under a half hour. Cobalt walked by at some point and rolled his eyes, typical Echo.

The new medic had only known the Arc trooper briefly, but he could already tell that he would do anything for his brothers. Even if it was at the cost of himself. The man needed some actual sleep. He grumbled and kicked the leg of the chair.

Echo startled and looked up at him with blurry eyes. Cobalt nodded towards the door, "Time for you to get some sleep in a real bed."

Echo looked at Dagger's still sleeping form. Before he could say anything Cobalt cut him off, "No, you are not staying here. How is Dagger supposed to get better if you keep her up all night. Scram kid, I got better things to do than keep an eye on you. And bring this back to the barracks with you."

Echo still didn't want to go but he rose to his feet and accepted the item that Cobalt held out for him. It was her dagger. Cobalt nodded thankfully at him, "Get some sleep, come back when you wake up. I'm sure she will be missing you by then."

~B~

Echo made his way to his bunk, the one right above Fives, right next to Dagger's. He had his hand on the ladder but couldn't bring himself to climb. Almost everyone was asleep, soft breathing could be heard from all directions in the dark. He still held Dagger's precious dagger in his hand.

He took the few steps over to her bunk and climbed the ladder. He told himself that he was just going to put the dagger under her pillow and then go back to his bunk.

But a full ten minutes later he was still sitting on her bed, holding her pillow tightly in his hands. His head was nodding as his eyelids refused to stay open in the low light.

He finally gave a sigh and let himself lay down. He knew he should go back to his own bunk, but if he couldn't be close to Dagger this was the next best thing. In a way it gave him comfort to sleep in the bed that she always had.

It made the room feel less empty. He wouldn't be kept up looking at her empty bunk if he was in it. He just wanted his friend back, he wanted her to be safe. Fives was sure to make fun of him in the morning, but for now he would stay where he was.

He pressed his head into the pillow, his eyes fluttered shut. No matter how tired he was, he couldn't fall asleep easily. Not with the ringing in his ears that the explosions and blaster fire had left him.

Echo's breath trembled as his mind reminded him of how much he had lost, reminded him how much he almost lost. Dagger meant everything to him. Even from her first week of training he had trouble protecting her.

That first obstacle course, he had been Dagger's partner and he had just let her fall. Helpless. Now, he had failed to warn her fast enough to protect her from the blast. Helpless. He had told his men to wait in the clearing.

Echo wondered if he had let Flicker go back into the woods to look for berries if the rest of the squad would have followed. Would that have put them far enough away from the blast? Had he killed them by ordering them to stay there?

He felt the pain stab through him. Echo fell asleep with an aching hole where his heart was supposed to be. The only light in the darkness of his soul was the fact that Dagger was alive and safe. She was just a short walk away, Kix, Coric, and Cobalt were all looking after her.

~B~

When she woke up the next time there was a sharp pain in her belly. Dagger blinked her eyes open and stared up at the ceiling mentally going through everything that she knew. Her head was still fuzzy and tired, all she wanted to do was go back to sleep.

She got hurt. She was in the medbay. Echo was here earlier. Echo wasn't here now, but he hadn't seemed mad at her. That was a good sign. She let out a deep sigh and heard a soft chuckle from her left.

Dagger turned her head and saw a medic standing by her bedside holding a tablet looking over something. He had a small crystal tattoo on his right temple with a small number 27 at the base. He looked away from the screen and at her, "Good of you to wake up. How are you feeling?"

She surveyed the rest of the room, "Where is Echo?"

Another short laugh, "Probably sleeping in an actual bed. I kicked him out a few hours ago and told him he couldn't come back until later."

She nodded, "Who are you?"

"The name is Cobalt, I've just been assigned to the 501st. And you've just been seriously injured. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

She just looked at him. Was that an actual question?

"Words usually help with this part, soldier. I'm not a mind reader," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

She tried to cross her arms over herself, but when her arm brushed her stomach she hissed in pain. Settling her arms at her side she spoke, "It's damn cold in here."

Cobalt rolled his eyes, he was not in the mood to play games with this one, "Are you going to cooperate or do I need to go get your Captain to make you tell me?"

She looked betrayed, "I am in… some pain."

"Thank you, that wasn't so hard was it? Now I can give you some meds to make it feel better."

"Is it going to knock me out again?"

"It's not made for that, but if your body needs the rest it would be best not to fight it. You certainly aren't leaving here for a little while so you might as well sleep."

Her eyelids started to droop but she still managed to waggle her finger at him, "Imma tell Kix you knocked me out."

Cobalt just laughed, "Ok kid, you do that. I'm sure Kix would be thrilled to know you are safe in the med bay and resting. I have heard that you avoid coming here at all costs."

"Not avoid, uhhhh evade is the word. And I'm pretty sure I'm older than you."

"Go back to sleep Dagger. You need it."


	41. Chapter 41

Echo woke up late into the morning, the lights were on but set to one of the lowest settings. With the Resolute orbiting the planet there wasn’t a need for anyone to be up performing duties. They all needed their sleep, especially if they could be called back into the battle at any moment. 

He stared out across the bunk to the one in front of him. With his back to the wall, he contemplated the bunk that was above Captain Rex’s. It was empty. No one ever slept there. Before Dagger, no one had ever slept in the bed he was currently occupying. 

The bunks above the officers, Rex and Cody, were always empty. Why? Did no one want to sleep on the bunk above in fear of making them mad? Echo had never seen Rex mad about something so small. He couldn’t even imagine it.

He hoped that Commander Cody and the rest of the 212th were doing well. He hadn’t heard from them in a while. He should probably send a comm to Waxer and Boil sometime soon, it would be nice to hear from them again.

Echo’s senses slowly started to filter in and the numbness of sleep wore off. It was nice to wake up slowly, not be forced up to the sound of gunfire with adrenaline pumping through his veins before he could even open his eyes.

A blond head came into his line of sight suddenly, Captain Rex had been in his bed and he just stood up. Rex turned towards Dagger’s bed and was startled to see someone laying there. Even more startled to see that someone was looking directly at him. 

It was too early to be worried about making such direct eye contact so Echo just looked at Rex. The Captain’s surprise softened, “You doing ok, Echo?”

“I’m fine sir,” he answered.

Rex nodded, not one to push the issue after last night’s incident. There were more than a few of them who were still numb with pain. The blond pulled on his boots and left the barracks, it was breakfast time after all.

With a sigh, Echo rolled to the edge of the bed and dropped down, feet first. He stayed standing with his arms up and still on the mattress for a moment, letting his head adjust to being upright again. He tugged on his blacks and the bare minimum armor that was required while still technically on mission. 

He smiled when he thought of seeing Dagger again. He hoped that she was doing better today, Echo was certainly feeling better. Whatever Kix had given him for his concussion had been a miracle drug.

Echo walked into the medbay as quietly as he could, since it was morning, most of the patients who had stayed overnight were still sleeping. He saw Hardcase laying on one of the cots trying to reach something on his bedside table. He was struggling.

With a chuckle he walked over to his vod and grabbed the cup of water and handed it to him, “What’s got you in here?”

“I got tripped up and shot in the leg. Have you met the new guy? I like him, but Kix is better,” Hardcase said.

“Yeah, I’ve met Cobalt. He tracked me down yesterday through an active battle. Seems like a good guy. You get better soon Hardcase, we might need you out there on the next one.”

“Sooner I get out of here the better, I don’t want Jesse to go through my things again. You know last time he took half of my stash of pain pills?”

“You mean the pills you aren’t even supposed to have?”

Hardcase lifted his chin with a huff and turned away from Echo. The Arc just laughed at his vod’s actions. He made his way over to the back corner of the medbay, which was sectioned off by a curtain.

Echo pulled back the curtain and saw Dagger was very much awake. She also seemed to be having a standoff with Cobalt. There Dagger was, standing on the left side of the bed, while Cobalt stood on the right side of the bed with a tense stance. 

“You ain’t allowed to be up yet, get back in the bed,” the medic said, his patience seemed to be running low.

“And you ain’t allowed to tell me what to do Crystals. You can’t catch me anyway,” she had a devious smirk on her face and poor Cobalt had no idea what was coming. 

Echo almost laughed at her antics but decided to stay quiet and see what happened. Dagger feigned left as if she were going to run around the cot that way. Cobalt lunged to his right to try and intercept. Once he was already committed to his path, Dagger redirected and vaulted over the cot, making a run for the opening in the curtain.

She ran straight into Echo’s arms. Dagger squawked indignantly as his arms wrapped around her waist and he lifted her into the air to stop her from running away, “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Echo! Let me go!”

He laughed and Cobalt let out a sigh that the menace had been captured. The Arc Trooper deposited the squirming Dagger onto the cot and caged her in with his arms. His hands held her hips and his face was just inches away from her as he leaned forward.

“I came to visit you and you are trying to run away? I thought you liked to see me?”

Echo couldn’t help the quick glance down her face to her panting lips. It was so strange to be able to see Dagger’s face. Her features were soft, his mind had trouble understanding that this was another clone. She looked so unlike himself, but at the same time she had many similar features.

Her eyes were piercing, filled with a determined fire that dared him to get in her way. He wondered if her face was always this expressive, if her emotions were always so easy to read. Just out of reach when she hid behind her helmet.

Dagger stilled and started to calm down, she looked up at Echo defiantly. He grinned, “Where would you have even gone?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, “I don’t know.”

“Then why were you running?”

Cobalt cleared his throat, “Cause I told her to eat breakfast and she decided it was a better idea to run.”

Echo fixed Dagger with a hard look and she looked down, “I don’t like jelly rations.”

He frowned as realized that he didn’t like seeing her pout. Echo already wanted to do something to make her stop being sad, “Cobalt, is there any way I could take Dagger to the mess hall?”

The medic sighed, “I’d be glad to get her out of the medbay, but I don’t know if she is strong enough for that yet.”

“I was in the bacta for hours. I’ll be fine for a trip to the medbay,” she protested.

“You know what, if you wanna pass out because you wanted real food be my guest,” he crossed his arms, “but I will not be coming to pick you up when you go down.”

He grabbed something off the counter and threw it at Dagger. She caught the fabric easily and examined this. She lifted a hood out of the mass of fabric and looked at Echo, who had now backed up a few steps, “It’s a cloak.”

“So you don’t aggravate those cuts on your face I bet,” Echo tried to explain, “Come on little demon, you have bothered the medics enough for one morning.”

Dagger grumbled but got off the bed and wrapped the cloak around her shoulders. She pulled the hood up and held out her arms, “How do I look?”

Echo faked a shocked look, “Oh stars! Who let a jawa in here?”

Dagger peaked out of the hood and giggled, “Hey, I’m not that short.”

His face softened at the sound of her unobstructed laughter, he wanted to hear that sound over and over again. Echo pulled her hood further over her head playfully, “Let’s go Dagger. I heard they are serving nerf steaks in the mess.”

~B~

Rex had been looking at the broken helmet for far too long. The blood had dried on the surface. He hated being in the dark, it took all of his self control to not go down to the medbay himself to check on Dagger. To demand that Kix let him through. He never would do that, he couldn’t force Dagger to show him his face, no matter how much he wanted to check on how he was doing.

Dagger had almost died. Kix had reported that Dagger would pull through, but it still worried him. The anxiety of what could have been still hung heavy in his mind.

Now, Rex was left with a sense of helplessness. He hadn’t been there. Obviously, he couldn’t always be there to protect Dagger, but he sure wished he could. 

He grasped the helmet tightly and stood. He would go and get Dagger a new one, Dagger needed a helmet. It would keep him safe. It would protect his face when he didn’t want to show it. Rex would make sure he had one.

After a short conversation with the supply sergeant he had the helmet in hand and made his way back to his bunk. When he got there he pulled a few paintbrushes and a tube of blue paint out of his drawer. 

He sat down and got to work. Dagger had always had a vertical stripe over the left eye that extended all the way down to the chin. He took great care to make the line perfectly straight. 

It was almost as if Rex painting the helmet could help Dagger. Him restoring this part of his identity would bring Dagger back to normal. Once he was done with the stripe he paused. It seemed incomplete now. Most helmets had multiple decorations, more elaborate. 

Rex’s own helmet sported the jaig eyes as well as all of his tally marks. Dagger’s helmet had not been modified since he had arrived at the 501st. He wasn’t a shiny anymore and he deserved some new ink. This might be the only chance Rex got to do something for Dagger since he couldn’t go back to the medbay.

He flipped the helmet and his hand moved of its own accord. Across the back of the helmet he painted sprawling wings. One on each side, giant feathered wings arching upward. Wings of an eagle, of an angel, he didn’t quite know himself. 

Through the middle of the two wings, where the spine of a bird would be he painted a dagger. As close as he could replicate to the one that Dagger had gotten on Coruscant. The double edged blade pointed upwards, the Mandalorian hilt painted in as much detail as he could manage. Rex was no artist, but attention to detail was important as a soldier.

It took him a long time to complete the design. Close to an hour if he were to guess. He leaned back against the wall as the paint dried and looked at the image. Perfectly symmetrical, it was beautiful, a symbol of protection. A fitting image to be on the Dagger’s helmet.

He stared at those wings for a long time. He was thankful that Dagger was alive and he was able to give him this helmet instead of remembering a lost brother. He got up and went to the medbay, maybe he could give it to Dagger now. Even to himself he knew that it was a thin excuse to just see Dagger and check up on how he was doing. 

Holding the helmet by the inner rim, he walked out of the barracks to the Medbay. He noticed the door was locked so he knocked. Kix answered the door, “Captain Rex, I was wondering when you would make it down here.”

“I have this for Dagger,” he said holding up the helmet for Kix to see.

The medic stepped aside to let Rex inside as he examined the front of the helmet, “I thought this was destroyed in the blast.”

Rex gently turned the helmet over to show Kix the back, “It was, this one is new.”

Kix looked up at the Captain, an unreadable expression in his eyes, “Rex, did you paint this?”

Rex nodded and Kix pulled him into a hug, “Dagger is going to love it.”

“How is he doing?”

“Dagger is doing great, the bacta tank really helped heal most of his injuries. Let him out for a short while. I swear he was about to challenge Cobalt to a fight. So Echo took him for a walk or food I think. Should be back soon, I can give the helmet to him if you like?”

“Thank you, Kix. If anything changes please let me know. I’ll be in my office,” he said before he turned and walked away.

He was relieved that Dagger was doing well enough to be out of the medbay. He went to his office and resolved to get back to work. He needed to file the reports that he had been putting off. He hated to acknowledge the fact that they had lost brothers on this mission. Almost an entire squad. He was thankful that it hadn’t been more.

Rex had put it off long enough, it was time to get back to work. He just hoped they didn’t get called back to the surface before he could finish everything. They were still on active mission status. So if the separatists tried anything on the planet below they would be the first ones to respond. 

~B~

Dagger sat quietly at the table while she and Echo ate. Her heart raced everytime anyone walked past. She wanted her helmet, her chest plate, her armor, she was too exposed like this. 

Echo could feel her unease hanging heavy in the air, he could see it in the wide sweeping glances she made around the room. Her hood was still up, but he was close enough to be able to see her face in the shadow.

He studied her closely, a realization dawning on him. Echo’s face fell and Dagger noticed immediately. She paused after swallowing, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“This is just the first time you have ever eaten in the mess hall with anyone. You always go elsewhere during meal times,” Echo explained.

Her shoulders drooped, “I’m sorry Echo.”

He waved his hands hurriedly, “No, no! That’s not what I mean. It’s just- just nice to be able to share a meal with you Dagger. I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad I wasn’t too late.”

She looked up at him and Echo could see her shining eyes from under the hood, “We lost so many Echo. Too many. I wasn’t there for you, I couldn’t even do anything to help. I couldn’t help them.”

Echo froze, he hated the look on her face. He should have been expecting that, but the comment still took him by surprise.

“Dagger, you know it wasn’t your fault right? There was nothing you could have done to help them. It's just the way the war goes.” 

There was silence from Dagger, she was completely silent for an unnerving length of time. Echo tried to peer under her hood to see her face, but she was too deep in the shadow to be visible.

Just as Echo was about to ask if she was ok, Dagger stood up, violently fast. She slammed her fists down on the table with a resounding bang. This drew the attention of the few others in the mess hall.

She let out a sound of pain, “I refuse to believe that. This war wasn’t meant to kill us like that. It’s not just some game of luck. They deserved better.”

Dagger turned and stormed off towards the door. Echo stood quickly and tried to reach across the table to grab her arm. His fingers brushed the billowing end of her cloak but she slipped away. 

She made her way out of the mess hall at a fast clip. Her short legs took her as fast as she could go without running. If the situation had been less emotional Echo would have laughed at the way she moved so quickly even though she was so small.

Echo sprinted after her, trying hard to keep up the appearance that he was in fact not sprinting. The last thing he needed right now was for Dogma to see him and yell at him to stop running in the halls.

He burst through the double doors just as they were closing behind Dagger. He saw the tail end of her cloak disappear around a corner, he could hear the soft sob that she let out as she ran.

After seeing that the hallway was empty she sped up. Dagger didn’t know what she was running from, but she just wanted to get away. The aching of her wound distracted her from the pain she felt about losing those in her squad. 

Echo extended his stride, boots thudding harshly on the duracrete floor. He caught up to her as she met a dead end. He grabbed her hand and turned her to face him, she could see the look on his face.

Dagger tried to pull away, he held fast with a gentle grip. She wanted to yell, but her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, “I don’t need your pity, I’m not a child.”

He huffed, “I’m not pitying you Dagger, I’m concerned.”

“Bantha shit! You have been looking at me with that sad expression all day. You think I’m a child who needs to be protected for what happened. They are dead and we were the ones who had to watch,” she hissed at him.

Echo’s eyes darkened, he growled and pushed her up against the wall, not unlike the last time he had chased her. Just after the 212th had left, all those weeks ago. Except that time he had been playing, this time he wasn’t. Her hood fell back on impact and he could finally see her face.

He looked into her brown eyes, still not used to being able to see her expression and feelings broadcasted so easily on her features. There was so much emotion. Tears slid, unwanted, down her cheeks. Echo’s grip softened, “Dagger, it’s not your fault.”

She tried to look away, but he pulled her chin up so she had to make eye contact before he continued, “We were made for this war, like it or not. It’s all we know. People, friends die. You didn’t shoot that fighter out of the sky. Dagger, if you hadn’t made it I don’t know what I would have done. You mean the world to me.”

“Echo, I don’t know what to do with this feeling inside of me. I feel like nothing is going to be right ever again.”

He spoke softly, his hand came up to hold her cheek, trying to comfort her, “I know. In time it will be ok. The first time losing a friend is always the worst and we lost a lot of them in this battle. We just have to be thankful it wasn’t worse.”

She coughed, pain flaring up in her stomach, “Echo they are dead! It couldn’t be any worse, we never get to see them again, never even get to say goodbye. They are gone and they left us to keep fighting in a war where even more of us will die. There is nothing to be thankful for,” Echo’s eyes were wide as her voice turned raw with emotion, “Why couldn’t I have jus-”

_ Click. _

Both of them froze as the door right behind Echo slid open and bootsteps could be heard exiting the room. In that split second Echo saw the panic in Dagger’s eyes. Fear that someone would see her with her hood down and helmet off.

He didn’t have time to think, he had to act. Echo knew that he had to hide Dagger’s face somehow. How, how?

Echo grabbed her face with both hands and pulled her face to his. She let out a squeak of surprise as his lips met hers. Her eyes went wide and she tensed into stillness. 

Echo couldn’t help but close his eyes, all he wanted was for this to be real even if he knew that it wasn’t. Even if just for a split second, he relished in the feel of her lips on his, softer than he would have imagined. He desperately wanted this to be something that she had initiated out of want. Not something that he had initiated out of necessity.

Stars, she was soft. He pressed his face closer, desperate in a different way to feel the closeness. All of his emotions poured through that kiss. Echo selfishly kissed her, his heart singing at the feeling.All the times he had wanted to do this in the past, every moment that he had watched Dagger wishing for more. 

As the next bootstrap fell behind him, shivers of fear shot up his spine. He reached behind her shoulder with one hand and pulled the hood up over her head. 

When the hood was up he pulled away slightly. He almost whined at the loss of his lips on hers as he panted softly. Echo looked into her eyes and his heart broke. 

She looked scared, hurt, maybe even offended. Echo knew in that moment that she didn’t feel the same way about him as he did about her. He would never be the one she cared about like that. His feelings were his alone and he had already overstepped far beyond where he should have.

“Echo?” came the familiar voice behind him.

Fuck. It was Captain Rex.

Echo whipped around to face the officer, standing as tall as he could to block his view of Dagger behind him. Dagger’s head spun at the sudden movement, one moment her best friend was kissing her and the next he was pushing her behind him.

“Uh, yes? Captain?” Echo stammered, trying his best to act natural.

Rex raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing here?”

“N-nothing, sir. Wha- what are you doing there? Doing here?” 

The Captain gestured behind himself, “That’s my office. Who is that behind you?”

Rex tried to look around Echo, but the Arc moved so his view continued to be blocked. Echo tried to sound convincing when he said, “No one Captain.”

Judging from Rex’s expression he was not successful, “So you are in this deserted hallway pinning an empty cloak to the wall?”

On trend for the day, he responded without thinking, “Yes sir!”

Whoever was behind Echo let out a frustrated groan that made Rex smile. Echo realized his mistake and tried to backtrack, “I mean no- no that would be crazy. I was just uhhhhh- just polishing the wall with the cloak. I mean it looked dirty.”

The Arc Trooper tried to laugh off his nerves and Rex laughed at him slightly, “Echo, you are the worst liar I have ever met. Aren’t you supposed to be watching Dagger?”

Echo straightened up, “Yes, I am! I was. Sh-HE is sleeping right now.”

Rex shook his head at his antics, “I think you should follow his advice. Kix hasn’t cleared you for the field yet due to your concussion. I’ll see you when we get back ok. Hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

Echo’s expression morphed into one of concern, “Gone sir? Where are you going?”

He tucked his helmet under his arm, “Seppies don’t know when to quit. Torrent is being sent back to the surface. Gotta have a leader, so I’m heading out now. Just- just tell Dagger I said get better soon ok? I left something for him in the medbay.”

Echo looked down, ashamed, “I will Captain, just please be safe. We already lost enough on Ryloth this mission.”

Rex nodded and made his way down the hallway, away from Echo and Dagger, he didn’t turn back once. He had many things on his mind, he had to get himself and his men ready for battle.

Echo waited until Rex was out of sight before he turned back to face Dagger. If he was being honest with himself he didn’t want to turn around. He didn’t want to see that hurt look on Dagger’s face and he didn’t want to face the fact that he was the one that put it there. 

He turned around and the first thing he saw was a fist headed right for his face. Echo didn’t even have time to flinch before her punch landed squarely on his nose with a crack.

“AH! What the hell?!”

“Me what the hell?” She squawked, “You what the hell Echo!”

“I didn’t have time to think of anything else! Unless you wanted Rex to find out like that? Because that is what would have happened,” he tried to defend himself. 

He knew it was true, but it didn’t change the fact of what had happened. The only reason that kissing her had been his first thought was because he had wanted to do so for so long. He never wanted it to happen like this, never like this.

“Are you stupid,” she cried out, her expression held pain and anger. She was lashing out with her words, “You could have hugged me, pushed me, anything other than that!”

“I- I couldn’t think that fast! Dagger I’m sorry! Please, please don’t hate me,” he begged, hands reaching out for her, but unwilling to touch her in case of enraging her further.

She looked down, her lip curling into a snarl. Then, to his surprise, she took a deep breath and her angry look faded into a tired one, “I don’t hate you Echo. I just wish you hadn’t done that.”

His head fell in shame, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help. I know I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry Dagger.”

She nudged his shoulder starting to walk back to the medbay, “Don’t do that again, you hear? It’s weird kissing your best friend. Kissing anyone really.”

His head snapped up to meet her eyes, “You’ve never kissed anyone before? But that woman on Coruscant? The one you stayed the night with?”

Dagger rubbed the back of her neck to try to relieve some of her embarrassment, “She was just a friend I met. I told you I didn’t do anything with her. Never with anyone for that matter.”

With her thoughts voiced she finally went on her way, back to the medbay. Dagger left and in doing so left Echo alone with a million thoughts swirling through his head. 

He felt like crying, or at the very least throwing up. He had taken Dagger’s first kiss,  _ without  _ permission. Stars, he felt sick. How could he have done that? He had been sure that she had already had her first kiss.

That didn’t excuse his actions. He made himself an  _ aruetii _ , a traitor to his vod. He had taken one of the choices that Dagger had, she would never be able to get her first kiss back because Echo had stolen it from her. She didn’t even want him.

His head pounded, he deserved a lot worse than the singular punch that she had dealt him. Deserved a lot more for stealing something precious from her. He was such an idiot. So stupid! 

How could she say that she didn’t hate him? He would have hated anyone who had taken the choice of a first kiss away from him. He still remembered his first kiss, every detail. He hated himself even more the longer he thought about it.

Echo shook his head, he had no right to feel sorry for himself. He needed to go after Dagger and make sure she was alright, apologize again and again. He would do anything to make it up to her.

He set off to the medbay at a brisk pace. He passed through the doors and realized that the medbay was empty aside from the medics and Dagger. She was sitting on her cot, her back to him, head in hands. Cobalt was leaning over her trying to calm her down, Echo could hear her sobs from the door and his heart broke even more.

Kix blocked his path from moving forward, arms crossed over his chest and his expression hard. The medic jabbed his finger into Echo’s chest, “I don’t know what you did to make her cry, but you better get out of here.”

“Kix I-”

“Get out!” he growled, “Or I won’t be responsible for what I do to you when I find out.”

Echo gulped, he had no doubt that Kix could tear him a new one if he wanted to and he looked like he wanted to. He took one last look at Dagger before he fled the medbay. His own tears stinging his eyes. He had fucked up real bad this time.

  
  



	42. Chapter 42

Kix's breath came fast and hard, anger burning brightly inside him. The door closed behind Echo after he had kicked him out of his medbay. He had been startled when Dagger had burst through the door just minutes ago. She had run straight to her cot and started crying.

Kix had looked at Cobalt who was closer, the man was just as startled as he was. He was glad that everyone had left the medbay for the day, all healed enough to go back to the barracks.

Cobalt had gone to her side immediately, offering words of comfort and gently trying to figure out what had happened. Kix made his way over to the pair and he sat on the cot on Dagger's left side.

He rested his hand on the small of her back, he spoke gently, "Hey, what happened kid?"

Dagger threw her arms around Kix's shoulders and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She trembled but the sobs he had heard earlier had already stopped. She hiccuped slightly and he could tell she was trying to push down her emotions.

He wouldn't push her, so he just wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. She sniffed and pulled back. Dagger wiped her face with her fingertips, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to cry."

"What happened? One minute you went out to go get some food with Echo and the next you are back crying your eyes out. Did he do something to you?"

She shook her head, "It's not a big deal. I shouldn't be this upset about it anyway, I just-"

She couldn't finish her sentence so she just trailed off into silence. Cobalt stepped forward and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "If it upsets you then it isn't something that can be pushed aside. Is there anything we can help with?"

She shook her head. She looked down, "He didn't mean it, he was just trying to help. Please don't be mad Kix."

The medic clenched his jaw but nodded to her, "What did Echo do?"

She choked back another sob, "Someone came out of the office behind us in the hallway, my hood was down and it surprised us. Echo was just trying to protect my secret. He kissed me. I-I had never been kissed before."

Kix sucked a breath in through his teeth and he saw red. He fought the urge to track down Echo right then and there. He had to remind himself that Dagger needed his help more than Echo needed an ass kicking.

Cobalt on the other hand had no problem walking out right now. Kix had to grab him by the collar and give him a hard stare to make him stay put. He sent the newest medic a look that promised they would deal with him later.

Dagger was staring blankly into her palms which lay face up in her lap. Kix sat back down, "I'm sorry Dagger. That should not have happened that way and Echo knows that."

"I know. He apologized immediately. I just wish it had been someone else. Don't get me wrong, Echo is amazing. But he's my best friend, I don't think of him like that," her voice was small.

"And there is nothing wrong with that. If that is how you feel then he is going to have to respect your decision."

"If he doesn't he'll have me to deal with," Cobalt said, grinding his fist into his palm.

Dagger looked even more uncomfortable now, so Kix tried to steer the conversation away, "You said you wish it was someone else? Who's that?"

"I- I can't tell you," she stammered.

"It's ok kid, you don't have to tell me. Here, I got a present for you," he got up to go grab said item, "Well, actually Captain Rex got you a present."

Dagger perked up at the name, a slight redness on her cheeks. Kix couldn't quite tell if it was from crying or something else. He handed her the helmet, visor up.

Dagger gasped and reached to grab it immediately, "Is this my helmet?"

"It's new. Your old one was destroyed. Rex painted it for you, look at the back."

Dagger looked up at him skeptically. What could possibly be on the back of the helmet? Rex had done this for her? The thought made her heart skip a beat. When she turned it over her breath caught in her throat.

Beautiful wings spanned across the back of the helmet. Her dagger copied perfectly in blue paint on the white armor. It was amazing.

Dagger looked up at Kix, "He- he did this for me?"

The medic smiled as if she had just told him a secret, "He did. He also asked if you were doing ok. He was really worried about you yesterday."

"Oh."

"Worried?" Cobalt asked, incredulous, "Homeboy was grieving for you. He thought you were dead. Captain looked half dead himself until Kix told him you were alive."

"Rex thought I was dead?"

The medics nodded, "And now he is going back down to Ryloth with the rest of Torrent?"

Another nod. Dagger thought for a moment, "Kix did you, by any chance, get another voice modulator for the helmet?"

"Already installed," he said with a smile.

"Do you think it would be too late to call him? I haven't been able to talk to him since I woke up."

"He might still be on the gunship down to the surface so if you are going to call him you should do it sooner rather than later," Cobalt said. Kix gave her shoulder a pat and then pulled Cobalt away.

Dagger was too busy inputting Rex's code into her comm to see the dark look that the two medic's shared before leaving her on her own. She didn't even notice as they walked out the door shoulder to shoulder.

"Captain Rex, do you copy?" she asked into the communicator.

"Go for Rex," was his response.

"This is Dagger, I know you are on your way back to Ryloth right now and I don't want to distract you, but I just wanted to thank you for the helmet."

There was a pause, "Dagger, how are you feeling? Are you getting better?"

She sniffed slightly, a smile painting itself on her face, "Yeah I'm feeling a lot better now. Kix fixed me up real good."

"Good! I'm glad to hear that. And you like the helmet? If you don't like the design on the back I can fix it, or I could paint something else, anything you want."

"No! It's beautiful, I love it. Thank you Rex. Please be safe on your mission, I have something I want to show you when you get back, ok?"

"Roger that, I'll be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourself Dagger, please."

"I will."

The communication shut off and her heart raced. She hadn't consciously decided that she would show Rex when he came back, but now that the words were out there she knew it was what she wanted. She wanted to tell Rex who she was.

If he was going to reject her and kick her out of the unit she would rather it be now rather than later. She wanted him to accept her with all of her heart, but she was still uncertain of what his reaction would be.

She took off the helmet again and gazed at the design on it, she could see the careful brushstrokes he had taken to create it. Dagger smiled, maybe he would be happy to see what she actually looked like. Maybe he would accept her for who she was.

~B~

Kix and Cobalt walked together in full armor minus their helmets. Anger shone bright in their eyes. They strode through the hallways, which were mostly empty at the time. Anyone who was in their way was wise enough to give them a wide clearance. No one wanted to get in the way of two angry medics who were set on a mission of their own accord.

They pitied the poor soul who they were looking to find. Kix's wrath was legendary, most of the stories of people escaping his clutches in medbay did not end well for the escapee. And Cobalt? Well, no one knew what he was capable of just yet.

Their first stop was the barrack. The door slid open and they took a quick glance over the mostly empty bunks to confirm that Echo wasn't there. The only ones in the barracks were the recently injured, including one snoring Hardcase.

Cobalt and Kix moved as a unit searching the observation deck, the mess hall, and the common room. They didn't even have to speak to know what the other was thinking.

Kix felt bile rise up in the back of his throat. How dare Echo do something like that to his sister? To Dagger? To one of them? Echo knew better than that. He knew better than to take away a vod's first kiss. He didn't understand what could have possessed Echo to act in such a way.

Cobalt's hands twitched. He had been in the unit for less than a week and he was already fiercely protective of the members of Torrent. His team leader on Kamino had always accused him of getting too attached to his unit. Cobalt didn't see that as a weakness, he saw it as a strength.

He had been lucky enough to be assigned to the only unit with a sister. He was lucky enough to have met her and be able to help save her when she was injured. Already, he would do anything to protect her, even from one of their brothers.

Cobalt had no problem with pounding Echo into the ground for kissing Dagger without her consent. As soon as he got his hands on the Arc trooper he would show him just how easily he could hurt instead of heal.

They entered the training room and heard the thudding of fists on a punching bag in the back corner. Kix and Cobalt exchanged a nod before moving quietly into the large room, bootsteps quiet on the duracrete floor.

Echo had fled straight to the training room. He couldn't stand to go anywhere else. It was the one place he knew no one else would be right now. He felt his skin crawling across his nerves.

He punched the bag as hard as he could, he hadn't even bothered to wrap his knuckles and wrists. It wasn't like he deserved to protect his hands anyway. He had sworn to protect Dagger and then been the one to hurt her. He had stolen from her. He had broken the taboo, he had disrespected her in one of the worst ways a clone could.

"Fuck!" He yelled punching the bag hard enough to split the skin on his knuckles. Why did he have to be a stupid clone? He would do anything to go back in time right now and undo what had been done.

He didn't even notice the two approaching behind him. Too caught up in his thoughts and anger at himself. How? How could she not hate him for what he had done?

Echo hated himself. He had half a mind to go tell Rex what he had done and let the Captain beat him to a pulp. Rex had never allowed such crimes to go unpunished in his unit, he certainly wouldn't start now. Especially since it was Dagger.

He knew he deserved to be torn a new one, the only thing stopping him from going to Rex right now was the fact that the man was on another planet. Stars, he just wanted this nightmare to stop.

There had been so much pain and Echo only made everything worse. He saw the look in her eyes and his shattered heart crumbled a bit more at the memory. She didn't love him. She didn't want him as he wanted her. He had always wanted her, even before he knew she was a girl. He just wanted to love Dagger, and he did. But he wasn't the one she wanted love from.

He could see it in her eyes, there was someone else. He didn't know who, but he had a pretty good guess. Dagger would never be his and his heart ached at that realization. He had only succeeded in pushing her further away.

He might have even ruined their friendship. The best friendship he had ever had, he just ruined it in one fraction of a second. In one flash of a moment he severed the bond that they had. Now she might never look at him the same way again.

His fists pounded even harder into the punching bag, red splotches blooming on the canvas. A tear streaked down his cheek, hot with self hatred.

Suddenly, the air was knocked out of him as a shoulder connected with his ribcage, strange arms wrapped around his torso. He let out a shout of surprise as he was tackled backwards, skidding across the floor until his back hit the wall. His head snapped back to crack against the durasteel.

Echo's eyes went wide as a face pressed into his space, he was pinned to the wall. Angry, familiar eyes, stared into his soul, a telltale tattoo on his temple. Cobalt? He quickly glanced behind the man and saw Kix standing with his arms crossed and looking just as angry as Cobalt.

"You think you can just take whatever you want because you saved her life?" Cobalt growled, voice spitting in his face.

Echo cowered back as far as he could, "No! No! I didn't mean-"

"You didn't mean to steal from your vod? I didn't think you would be a chakaar."

Echo hung his head forward, "I didn't mean to. I didn't think. I had no idea she hadn't had her first."

Cobalt's hand slammed into the wall next to Echo's head, the other fisted into his shirt, "You didn't even ask? Do you have no honor at all? Is there a shred of respect in your heart? You were supposed to protect her!"

Echo let out a sob, "I was trying to protect her! He was going to see her! Dagger's hood was down! I was trying to protect her secret!"

"By stealing a muryeca?! How could you?" Cobalt's voice was trembling with anger. He was desperate to understand what had possessed this vod to act as he did.

"I- I was-"

"You don't care about her at all! Do you?" He roared in his face.

Echo finally snapped and looked up at him blazing eyes, "I LOVE HER!"

The medic recoiled at that and Echo shoved him off, "I love her and I was trying to protect her. You think that I don't regret my actions? You want to know what I saw after I kissed her? Horror. Disgust. She doesn't love me! She doesn't even want me!"

Tears streamed down his face as he yelled. His voice was trembling with the effort, "She doesn't love me and I was the worst vod in the universe to her. She should hate me! Not forgive me! I don't deserve to get away with what I did to her! Please!"

He moved forward and grabbed Cobalt's shirt, balling it up in front of him, "Please! Don't let me get away with it! I can't stand what I did to her! I just want to take it back, I don't want to feel like this anymore. Please!"

His eyes were begging and Cobalt was frozen for a moment. He took the moment to truly look at the other man. His eyes were rimmed red, cheeks wet. His right eye was already starting to turn purple to match the wound on his nose. One that Dagger had no doubt given him.

The trooper deserved a whole lot more than a bruised nose and from what he had said he knew that he deserved worse too. Cobalt was more than happy to give him what he asked for, what he deserved.

The medic wound back and sent his fist into Echo's jaw with a satisfying crack. Echo let out an involuntary cry and his head snapped to the side. He let go of Cobalt as his balance was shifted suddenly and he went down on his knee.

Cobalt unleashed a series of punches at Echo only to be stopped abruptly by an arm around his neck. He choked at the sudden lack of oxygen. He felt more than heard the hissed whisper in his ear, "That is not how we do things here! We do not beat our own men!"

"What the fuck else did me come here to do Kix?" As far as Cobalt was concerned he had done nothing wrong.

"We are medics! We don't beat people up, we yell at them! That is your vod, Cobalt! He knows what he did was wrong. Nothing you do to him could be worse than what is going on in his mind."

"Kix," Echo let out a hoarse whisper from where he was kneeling on the ground.

The medic released Cobalt and squatted down in front of him. His fingers were gentle on his jaw as he examined the fresh injury, "Echo?"

"Why did you stop him? I deserve to feel pain after what I did," His voice was broken and small.

"Because it's not what Dagger would want. I think she has already been through enough the past few days," Echo looked down at that, "I'm going to need you to do something, ok Echo? Something for Dagger."

The Arc looked up with pleading eyes, "Anything."

"You need to go apologize to her. You know what you did wasn't right. You know what a first kiss means to us clones and you need to tell her how sorry you are."

Echo nodded furiously, "Yes of course!"

Kix stood and offered his hand to help Echo stand up. The man wobbled slightly as he stood and a guilty expression was painted on his face.

"I still think you should have let me knock some sense into him," Cobalt grumbled, "But I guess an apology will do."

"You can always beat me up when Kix isn't around," Echo said darkly.

Kix pushed the man's shoulder, "Stop that you self deprecating jerk. This isn't about you, it's about Dagger."

They began the walk back to the medbay as Echo responded, "And I hurt Dagger. Not physically but I still hurt her."

"And you got a broken heart out of it," Kix retaliated, "There isn't much worse than that Echo. I truly am sorry for that, but you will respect her if she doesn't want to be with you."

"I will, I promise."

~B~

"Roger that, I'll be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourself Dagger, please."

"I will."

Rex shut off the communicator and looked around the gunship. Jesse's helmet was staring right at him and his HUD lit up with a private comm channel from the trooper, "What's up Jesse?"

"Who were you talking to Captain?"

"Dagger."

"Ahh, so that's why you have the stupid smile on your face," he laughed.

"You can't even see my face," Rex rolled his eyes at him.

"Au contraire my Captain, I know you well enough to know when you are smiling. What is going through that head of yours?"

"Dagger liked the helmet I got him. I painted it special for him before we left and he said he loved it," Rex felt his cheeks heat up at the admission. It really did make him happy to know that Dagger liked it.

"You know you need to tell him right?" Jesse asked.

"I know, I know. I just don't want to rush anything or force him at all. I don't even know if he feels the same way."

"Either way, he deserves to know. You almost lost any chance to tell him at all."

Jesse was right and once again the thought of losing Dagger sent a wave of anxiety up Rex's spine, "Wait, how do you even know Jesse?"

He saw the trooper's shoulders shudder with a laugh, "Aside from the fact that you didn't deny it just now?"

The trooper was openly laughing at him now. Rex shut off the communication channel and cursed himself quietly. Was he really that obvious?

The light in the gunship went red and he ordered his men to prepare for the battle, "Red light! Standby."

The sound out blasters being switched off safety rang out and they were raised to point at the blast doors. Ready to fire as soon as the doors opened.

General Skywalker ignited his lightsaber and Rex's body flooded with adrenaline. Any thoughts that were not about this battle were pushed from his head. He had no room to think about anything other than the present moment.

The lights flashed green and the blast doors opened, "Go! Go!"

Torrent soldiers flooded out of the gunships that were all landing simultaneously. Red bolts flew through the air as they rushed for cover, trying to set up a line of defense. They needed to get into position before they could push forward. The walls of the gorge they were in made for good cover.

Seppies had mobilized the last of their forces on the planet to attack one of the main cities of Ryloth, but to get there they had to go through this path. It was up to the 501st to stop them. Rex followed behind General Skywalker closely, determined to watch his back.

"Rollers!" someone yelled from near the front lines.

Sure enough, there were droidekas rolling up from the back of the droid forces, obviously released by their cyborg overlord General Grievous. Rex gritted his teeth, did they really need to make things this difficult for them?

"General?" He asked.

"I see em' Rex," the Jedi replied, lightsaber swinging in what looked to be random strokes. Rex knew, however, that the General was anything but random as he deflected all blaster bolts that came his way.

"Do you remember Cristophsis?"

"You mean that first battle when you were assigned Commander Tano?" Rex asked, confused as to why he had brought it up.

"Yeah, so Snips and I got the rollers to chase us and then sliced 'em while their shields were down. Maybe we could do that again," the jedi suggested as the troops took cover from the ray shielded death balls.

Rex quickly relayed the information to his men, "Fire on those 'dekas when they start to move."

Anakin, much to Rex's dismay, powered down his lightsaber and ran back the way that they had just come from. The droidekas immediately started to roll after the jedi, as that was their primary target.

"General!" Rex exclaimed. He was too reckless, he was going to get himself shot!

The Captain, as well as the rest of Torrent company opened fire on the rollers. They were shot to smithereens before they could even get two meters down the gorge.

Anakin turned with a smile and Rex just shook his head. That man was going to give him a stroke one day. There were a few short cheers when the droidekas were eliminated, but everyone quickly focused on the remaining forces which had not paused their assault on the clone lines.

"Tankers, move forward. I want those cannons taken out!" Rex ordered.

He heard the dull thuds through the ground as the heavy mechs moved forward. There were a few shouts to take cover as the tanks opened fire. Missiles were launched into the air and found their marks on the enemy cannons.

The droids started to retreat back into the gorge, where there was more cover. The Republic forces pressed forward to keep them in sight. Soon enough the rock walls were too close to keep the tanks firing.

Rex ordered them to hold fire, there was too much risk of a rock slide if one of the rounds missed. He surveyed the remnants of the droid forces, which were rapidly dwindling. He looked to the General for orders.

"Let's take out that last tank, gimme a grenade," Skywalker said.

He quickly handed over a grenade and readied a second for himself. He felt his muscles bunch in anticipation, ready to spring as soon as necessary.

Rex rushed forward, following closely behind General Skywalker for the second time this battle. They sped towards the last tank as fast as they could manage.

The Jedi jumped onto the barrel of the cannon with height that would have been impossible for Rex to replicate. He ran up the cannon and cut through the upper hatch of the tank with his lightsaber.

Rex went for the lower hatch, sliding onto the hovering tank. He blasted the latch and swung it open. The droid yelled out in surprise and grabbed at Rex to try and shove him away. Stupid droid forgot about its blaster entirely.

The droid grabbed onto Rex's ankle just as he shot it in the face, instant kill. Grabbing a grenade from his belt, he armed it and looked up to see the General doing the same. With a practiced synchronization they tossed the grenades into the tank and made to jump away.

Skywalker leaped free with an impressive backflip. Rex, on the other hand, preferred the haul ass approach and started to run back the way that he came. Except he had forgotten about the droid that had grabbed his ankle.

Even deactivated, the mech's grip on his ankle was tight enough to cause him to trip. He fell onto his back with a thud. He knew the timers on the grenades were short, he didn't have time to run. All he had time to do was let out a panicked shout, "GENERAL!"

The jedi looked back in horror to see his Captain lying face up on a tank that was about to explode. On instinct he reached out with the force to grab Rex. He pulled him away as quickly as he could.

Just as he was lifting the Captain, the tank exploded and sent the soldier flying into the rock wall, just out of reach of the fire of the blast. Anakin shouted out in shock, "Rex!"

He sprinted over to where the man was crumpled against the rock wall. His armor was still intact and his force signature was still strong. Yet, there was no movement from the man. Anakin crouched over the Captain and removed his helmet, "Rex?"

Rex's eyes were closed and Anakin had to put a hand to his face to make sure he was still breathing. He frowned, "I'm sorry my friend, I wasn't quick enough this time to keep you from getting your bell rung. Rex, you gotta get up."

The Captain let out a low noise of pain and he could see his eyes moving beneath his closed eyelids. Skywalker looked at the back of the blond's head and already saw a bruise starting to form where his skull had connected with the helmet, "On second thought, maybe you should just stay down. That is gonna hurt like hell when you wake up."

Rex let out a moan of pain that indicated some level of comprehension of what Skywalker was saying. But to what degree, the General had no idea.

The Jedi put Rex's helmet back on and lifted the man over his shoulder. Holding him secure with a hand over his back he turned to survey the battlefield. Since the last tank had been destroyed the troopers of the 501st were making short work of the remaining droids.

Good. The sooner they were done with these small remnants of the Separatist forces the sooner they would be able to leave this rock. The General carried Rex as gently as he could back to the gunships where Corric was waiting with a gurney. Apparently, he knew that Skywalker was coming.

"I'll take it from here General," the medic said.

"He has a pretty bad head wound. You'll be able to patch him up right?" Anakin was confident in the abilities of his men, but there was always that worry that it wouldn't be enough.

"Shouldn't be a problem sir. The Captain has had a lot worse than this in the past."

Anakin nodded before turning back to the last stretches of the battle. He raced back to the front lines. Can't let the boys get all the fun now could he?

~B~

Rex's head pounded. Almost as if his brain was trying to beat it's way out the back of his skull. He let out a groan of pain as he felt himself be picked up and deposited face down on some sort of surface.

There was noise around him. Were those voices? Was he still on the battlefield? His thoughts were fuzzy and he couldn't quite tell where he was. Everything was a lot quieter now.

Someone was trying to touch his brain, of that he was sure. They were touching the back of his head and trying to force their finger through his skull to touch his brain. It was the only explanation for the shooting pain he was feeling.

He had to get up. If he was still on the battlefield, he couldn't just lay around and let a clanker poke his brain. So he made a plan, very simple. Get up and run. He could do that.

Slowly as he pulled his arms up so they were under his chest. His heart raced and his muscles twitched in anticipation.

Quick as he could, he pushed himself up off of the surface he was laying on and got his knees under himself. His eyes flung open and he was blinded by bright lights. The shouts of surprise were deafening to his sensitive ears.

Rex flung his feet off the cot and tried to stand, except his balance was way off and he overshot by a mile. His feet hit the ground but the rest of him also wanted to be on the ground.

Before he knew it he was falling and a pair of hands caught him under the armpits. The Captain had no idea where he was or who was holding him, which caused him to thrash violently in their hold.

"Oh for the love of- would you calm down Captain?"

He stilled at the familiar voice. His mouth felt like cotton but he still managed to croak out, "Kix?"

The man sighed and sat him back on the cot, laying him on his side to make sure there was minimal pressure on the back of his head, "Yes, Captain. You are in the medbay aboard the Resolute. So if you could please refrain from trying to escape that would be great. I'm already at my tracking limit for the day."

"Battle report?" He asked, as if he would actually get that information.

"Not right now Rex. You got hit pretty bad on the head while you were down there. Gonna need to keep an eye on you for at least the night if not the next day or two."

"Medbay?"

Kix rolled his eyes, he really shouldn't have expected any intelligent conversation with him right now considering the head injury that Rex had. He just laughed to himself, it was kinda funny the way that Rex was trying to keep his eyes open to look at him. He couldn't keep himself from making fun of Rex, "You couldn't wait to see Dagger could you? Had to go and get yourself a ticket to the medbay just to see him again."

A dopey smile crossed Rex's face at the mention of Dagger. Kix almost wanted to coo at the Captain for it, but he refrained himself so he could listen to what he was going to say.

"Sharp boy," was the brilliant thing that the Captain came up with, "He has a trusty stab."

There was a laugh from behind Kix and the medic turned to see Dagger, with her new helmet on, standing behind him. Once acknowledged, she stepped forward, "You going to be ok Captain?"

"Anything for you," he said with a lazy smile on his face. She could tell by the searching look in his eyes that he couldn't quite see her.

She laughed at that and moved forward. Dagger placed a hand on the side of his face and he unconsciously nuzzled into her warm palm. Her heart did a funny jump at the action.

His eyes were closed and she snuck a glance at Kix to gage what his reaction was. Kix, to his credit, had a pretty neutral face, but he still couldn't keep the smirk off of his mouth. Dagger tilted her helmet at the medic, "What is he doing?"

Kix just shrugged, smile growing, "It's cold in here and you are probably warmer than he is."

As the medic spoke, Rex's hand snaked up Dagger's wrist to hold her in place as he turned his head and pressed a kiss into her palm. Dagger made a small choking sound, her brain was stalling. Was he? Did Rex just?

Kix let out a snicker and Dagger just looked at him, trying to figure out what was happening. Because this could not possibly be happening. That was not something someone did because they were cold.

Rex was murmuring quietly into her skin, eyes closed and body slowly relaxing into the cot. Dagger leaned in to try and hear what he was saying. It took her a moment to realize the jumbles of syllables was actually a string of mando'a. He spoke too quietly, too slurred for her to understand.

"Kix, what is he saying? Is he in pain?"

The medic leaned in closely and smiled, "He's doing just fine. His head hurts a bit but that isn't what he is talking about."

"What is he talking about?"

"I'm sure he'll tell you when he wakes up, but for now I bet he would appreciate it if you kept him company. He would never admit it but he doesn't like sleeping alone. That's why he sleeps in the barracks with us."

"I know," Dagger said, Kix gave her a funny look but let it slide. Dagger pulled a chair closer with her free hand and sat down close to Rex's bunk. She twisted her hand until she was holding his. She could feel his breath ghosting across her knuckles softly.

She smiled at the sleeping blond, he looked so calm like this. Examining her hand in his she noticed the difference in size. His hand practically engulfed hers due to its larger size. His fingers were rough but undamaged, the gloves had protected him well during the fight.

Her fingers, on the other hand, had multiple small cuts and her knuckles were split from when she had punched Echo earlier.

Dagger shuddered at the memory. Her fist had landed with a sickening crunch on Echo's nose. She had been so angry at him that she hadn't been able to control herself. Her anger had since turned into a numb betrayal.

Echo had come back to the medbay with a few extra bruises that neither of them acknowledged. He had kneeled in front of her and apologized. She saw the hurt welling up in his eyes, the desperate was he had pleaded with her. He was afraid that she would reject him. As if she could ever shun her best friend.

Dagger made it perfectly clear that what he had done was not ok and he had agreed with her wholeheartedly. But then she had dragged him into a hug and forgiven him. Echo had cried into her shirt at that, hands grasping her back tightly. He kept saying he was sorry over and over again.

She shook her head and focused back on the man in front of her. A sense of longing washed over her. She wondered what it would be like to feel his lips on hers instead of on her hand.

She wondered if he felt the same thing that she did. No. There was no way the Captain liked her, he had never even seen her face. He would probably kick her out of the unit as soon as he found out. She already promised herself that she would tell him no matter what his reaction might be and she would. She just wasn't expecting a positive response from him about the situation, about lying to him.

Part of her had hope that he wouldn't mind that she was a girl. Hoped that he did feel the same way about her. She had the clues right in front of her, like the way he had kissed her palm. But her brain refused to accept it.

He had just been hit on the head hard enough to rattle his brain. He had no idea what he was doing. Rex was just looking for comfort wherever he could find it. It made no difference if it was her or anyone else. At least, that is what she was telling herself.

Dagger propped her feet up on the side of the cot and leaned back in her chair. Her hand never once let go of his, it made her feel better to be able to tell he was still there.

Hand in hand with Rex, she followed him into sleep. Passed out in a chair in the medbay, a small smile on her helmeted face. The future may be uncertain, but for this moment everything was going to be ok.


	43. Chapter 43

His thoughts were cloudy and Rex could feel himself drifting in and out of sleep for a long time. He had no idea exactly how long he was out for, but he could tell it was either late at night or early in the morning.

His head pounded but things were starting to make more sense. He filed his thoughts based on what he knew. He had gotten injured on Ryloth, then he was in the medbay. If he were to guess by the sharp smell of bacta in the air, he would say that he was still in the medbay. He remembered trying to escape and remembered Kix telling him where he was.

Rex couldn't tell if he had been imagining Dagger. It would make sense that he was in the medbay, but had he actually touched Rex. His mind ached as he tried to sort what was reality and what was a dream.

He remembered his tongue moving of its own accord. Mando'a spilling from his lips without his mind's permission. He hoped that he had been imagining all of the sappy things he had said, or at least that Dagger hadn't heard him.

If the man had heard he would probably think Rex was crazy. He remembered confessing his feelings into the warm hand of the one he cared about. Really, he couldn't be held accountable for his actions when injured and drugged. Could he?

Voices tugged on his consciousness along with a steady pressure in his hand. There was a conversation going on right in front of him. He focused, trying to hear the hushed voices.

"I'm going to tell him. It's his job to know."

"No," was the quiet response, "He doesn't need to know. He has more important things to worry about right now, Kix."

Who was talking to Kix? That had to be the person who held his hand. Who was that?

"That's not how any of this works and you know it Dagger," the medic responded.

Ah, Dagger. Rex smiled at the thought of himself holding hands with the man. But what were they talking about? What did he need to know?

"You can't tell him, please."

Rex forced his eyes open, he squinted against the bright light. He saw Dagger sitting next to his bedside looking up at Kix who was hovering above him. From the side angle he could see the winged design on the back of the helmet. He was wearing it.

Rex slowly pushed himself up with one arm. The blond groaned in pain, his head was pounding, this caught the attention of the pair. The motion dislodged his hand from Dagger's and he tried to not mourn the loss of the feeling.

The white sheet that had been covering him pooled around his waist. He could tell he was out of his armor, but he still wore his blacks. He rubbed his eyes, "Tell me what?"

"Rex! You're awake," Dagger exclaimed, standing quickly. She crowded onto the cot and sat next to him.

Rex was surprised to find the man's arms wrap around his neck in a hug. He smiled and buried his face in the crook of his neck. He slung his free arm around Dagger's waist and gave him a slight squeeze.

He felt the man's breath hitch and he quickly released him, "I'm sorry."

Dagger released him and rubbed the back of his neck, "No, no it's ok, I just forget that I have a hole in my stomach that I need to be careful about."

"And that's why you need to be sitting down, not jumping all over the Captain," Kix said, gently nudging Dagger back into her chair.

Rex looked up at the medic, "What did you need to tell me?"

Kix's mouth opened, but Dagger's head snapped to him, "Don't!"

"Dagger," Kix's voice was pleading and Rex's brow furrowed in confusion. What did the trooper not want Rex to know.

Dagger cleared his throat, "Kix was just going to update you on everyone's condition."

Said medic sighed, that was definitely not what he was going to tell Rex, "Yeah, and ask why the hell you let a tank blow up in your face?"

"Tripped," was Rex's reply as he sat up fully, legs swinging over the side of the cot. His hand came up to hold his pounding head and he let out a groan, "Did we lose anyone?"

"Happy to report that you are the only dumbass to get hurt in this one, sir."

"I don't think the sir counts for anything if you insult me before that," he grumbled.

Rex went to stand up but Kix got in his way, "Whoa whoa, where do you think you are going?"

"Paperwork," he grumbled.

"Not with that head injury you aren't. You are staying here," he pushed Rex back down into the cot. He had to admit that the bed was a lot more comfortable that he had been expecting, "Don't worry Captain, Dagger here already volunteered to keep you company since both of you have to stay here for observation for the next 24 hours."

Dagger groaned at that, which made Rex laugh a little. He let out a sigh and laid down fully. He felt tired still, but knew that he wouldn't be able to go to sleep just yet. Dagger watched him as Kix walked away.

Rex tilted his head in question, "What was it you and Kix were talking about?"

She turned away from him, refusing to make eye contact even through the helmet, "It's nothing sir, just something that happened earlier."

Rex frowned, "You don't trust me?"

Dagger looked back at him quickly, "Of course I do! It's not that Captain."

He frowned at the title but Dagger continued, "I just don't think it is something you should have to worry about."

"Did something happen?"

She nodded, but didn't respond. He could tell he was struggling with something under his helmet, he didn't want to push too hard, "It's ok, I understand. Just know if you ever want to talk I will be here."

"Thank you."

"I seem to recall you said you had something to show me when you got back," Rex blurted out. It had been on his mind for a while now, he was curious about what it was Dagger wanted to show him.

He heard a short laugh come from the helmeted man, "And I seem to recall asking you to stay safe. I don't think that went very well now did it?"

He let out a huff and Dagger continued, "I'll show you Rex, but I want to make sure you are fully yourself for it. So we're going to have to wait."

"Dagger, you don't have to show me your scars," he said, it was the only reasonable thing he could come up with that he was going to be shown, "I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything."

He could have sworn he saw the helmet twitch, "That's not it Rex, although I do appreciate you saying that. Honestly? I'm really scared to show you, but I need to do it. For myself, I can't keep living like this."

He looked up at Dagger, tension was visible in his small stature. He wanted to get up and hug the man, but he was unwilling to hurt him again. Rex's voice came out in a whisper, "Your face?"

Dagger nodded, "I don't want to hide anymore. At least not from you. I- I can't keep hiding from you. I need to know if you will kick me out or not. I don't want you to hate me for what I am, but I can't know if I don't show you."

At that Rex did sit up again, he stretched out a hand for Dagger to grasp if he wanted. Dagger took his hand and Rex gave it a reassuring squeeze, "Dagger, I told before. I don't care what you look like. I care about who you are on the inside, the outside doesn't matter to me. Nothing you look like could ever change the way I feel about you."

"The way you feel about me?" she asked, latching onto his words.

Rex's cheeks flared with heat and he swallowed quickly. His heart hammered in his chest. He could tell Dagger right now, he could tell him everything.

"Yes, I, well," he cleared his throat, "uhh."

Perfectly eloquent. Damn his brain for failing him when he needed it most. He tried to scramble for words, something to say. The right thing to say.

He didn't get the chance as Dagger laughed, "You must have really gotten your brains scrambled to be talking like that. You need to go to sleep Rex."

Rex frowned, eyes looking down. He couldn't get the words out of his mouth. Dagger didn't believe him, he thought it was just his head injury talking. His words were slurred and he could feel his consciousness fading as he spoke, "I wouldn't lie to you. Just not good with words, don't worry I'll show you. I promise."

Dagger just laughed as his head started to droop, "Ok Rex, you do that."

~B~

A grand total of three hours is how long it took for Dagger to get bored of being in the med bay. There was no one to talk to, Rex was passed out until further notice and Kix was busy.

Three hours into the twenty four hour timeline Kix had assigned and she was already looking for ways to escape mentally or physically it didn't matter. Her finger's tapped impatiently on her vambrace. Her mind trying to figure out what to do.

Dagger moved away from where Rex was sleeping. She didn't want to disturb him. She stood, or rather slowly paced, along the far wall of the medbay.

She smiled to herself, earlier in the week she had been on Coruscant wishing to leave. Now, she kinda wished she could go back. She realized she could do one thing, she scrolled through the programmed numbers in her communicator and tapped the familiar name. A number she had not yet used.

"Hello?"

"Hey Astra, it's Dagger."

"Dagger! How are you? I heard on the news that your unit left Coruscant. Are you staying out of trouble?"

She laughed, "I'm doing my best. We actually just got done with a mission. I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute. Are you busy?"

"Never too busy to answer a call from a friend," was the determined response.

"So you know how I hide my identity from my unit?"

"I do recall."

"I want to tell my Captain, but I don't really know how to do that."

Astra let out a little breath, "First of all, I am so proud of you for being brave enough to tell him. But as for how to tell that cutie, I would be at just as much of a loss as you are."

Dagger's shoulders sank slightly, it had been worth a shot, "Thank you Astra."

"Hey, no matter how you tell him I'm sure everything will be ok. Just tell him the truth, he can't get mad at you for being honest. I'm sure that he will understand."

"You are the best."

They talked for a few more minutes until Astra was called away by a customer. The girls said their goodbyes quickly and the conversation left Dagger with a smile on her face.

She made her way back over to where Rex was sleeping. He looked calm like this and she couldn't help the way her heart sang when looking at him. Dagger sighed, "Why can't you just wake up?"

Dagger glanced over her shoulder and saw that neither Kix nor any of the other medics were in sight. An idea blossoming in her head she slowly backed away. Taking one last look at Rex and with a sly grin on her lips she slipped right out of the medbay doors.

She walked down the familiar halls with a little jump in her step. She had outsmarted Kix. Dagger made her way back to the barracks, hopeful at the idea that she would be able to see her brothers.

Echo hadn't come back to the medbay since apologizing and Dagger hadn't seen Fives since before her injury. She wanted to see how everyone was doing.

The doors to the barracks slid open and all heads turned to look at her. She opened her arms and said, "Guess who's back?"

Fives was the first to react, "Dagger!"

He ran towards her and swept her up in a spinning hug. She laughed at his excitement even if it caused her pain, her arms went around his neck to ground herself. Jesse ran up next and pulled Fives to a stop.

He hugged her from the side, chin tilted up to rest on her helmet, "I'm glad you are safe, Dagger."

"Me too Jesse."

"I thought Echo told you not to die before we left on the mission," Fives said, giving her a stern look.

"Hey I didn't die, I'm standing right here," she said as he put her back on the floor and she was able to cross her arms low over her stomach. She wasn't quite willing to tell Fives how much it had hurt when he picked her up.

Hardcase, who had just woken up judging by the pillow lines on his face, rushed her next. She got a wide smile and a slap on the back, "You're back!"

"Yeah, I finally got out of medbay," she explained, neglecting to mention that she had snuck out.

"How is the Captain doin'?"

"Asleep, but he is doing ok. Just got knocked in the head I guess. He was talking some kind of nonsense realier," she paused, "Where is Echo?"

Fives turned and looked towards Echo's bunk. There was a mass of blankets curled on top. Dagger nodded in appreciation and broke away from the small group that had formed.

She climbed up the ladder to his bunk and gently settled at the foot of it. Echo was curled up tightly facing the wall. He was cocooned in a blanket. Dagger could see him breathing and could tell that he wasn't asleep, just being quiet.

She placed a hand on his ankle through the blanket and felt his muscles tense. His head rose to look at her and her eyes went wide. His face was covered in bruises, more than she had seen earlier. A particularly dark one blossomed across his jaw.

She quickly crawled up the bed and over Echo. He tensed at that but didn't resist her as she sat at the top of the bed and pulled his head into her lap.

The change in position caused him to turn onto his back and he looked up at Dagger with sad eyes, "I'm sorry Dagger."

She shook her head, hands petting his hair gently, "What happened Echo?"

He looked away, "Nothing."

She tugged gently, "Please look at me."

He obeyed, he didn't think that he would ever be able to deny her anything. He really was helpless, "Don't worry Dagger, I've had worse."

She gave him a sad smile even though he couldn't see it, warm hands holding his face where he wasn't bruised, "Is this because of what happened in the hallway?"

He nodded, "I'm ok, I promise. I deserved it."

"You know you are my best friend right?" she asked, changing the subject.

Another nod.

She squished his face and laughed at the offended look it earned her, "Then why didn't you come give me a hug when I came in?"

"I didn't think you would want to see me."

"You were wrong," she said with a teasing tone, "Can I have one now?"

He sat up quickly and turned to pull her in for a hug. She responded happily and they just held each other for a while. It was good for the soul to be able to feel a vod, undeniable proof that they were alive and they were safe.

Echo let out a sigh as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from his shoulders. Which it almost had been. Echo had been worried that he had ruined their friendship entirely. He knew that he would never be in a relationship with Dagger, but that was ok if they could still be friends. It would be ok.

Dagger was alive, she was healing and now he knew more about her than he ever had. He was happy that she still called him her best friend. He held her just a little tighter.

The doors to the barracks slammed open, which was impressive given that they were automatic. They heard a yell from said door, "Where is he?!"

Dagger's eyes went wide and she looked at Echo in panic. Kix was going to find her. Echo shared her panic as if he were harboring a spy.

He scooped her up and laid her flat on the bed closest to the wall. He laid on his side next to her and quickly through the blanket over them both. This was never going to work.

Echo looked at Dagger just as she turned her helmet towards him. He had to stifle a laugh at their situation and she shushed him. He went stiff as he heard Kix stomp over.

"Echo!" the medic almost shouted.

Echo jerked up and pretended like he had just been woken up, "What's up Kix?"

"Where is Dagger?"

"How should I know? I thought you were supposed to be watching him in the medbay," he knew he shouldn't be making fun of the medic but the opportunity was just too tempting to pass up.

"So that lump on your bed isn't Dagger?"

"No sir, that's Fives. He's sleeping, best to not wake him," Echo lied, not very convincing.

Kix's eyes flicked down to the bottom bunk, right at Fives who was sitting on his bunk. The man quickly covered his temple with his hand, a mischievous grin on his face, "I'm not Fives, I'm Cricket."

Cricket, who had been passing by behind Kix did a quick 180 and failed to contain his snicker. Kix let out an annoyed sound.

"Echo, you get Dagger back to the medbay right now or I will come up there and get him myself," he growled.

"I think that waking him would be unwise. He just fell asleep, come on Kix you know how sad it is to be in the medbay all alone," Echo pleaded.

Kix let out a sigh, "Fine, but if he gets into any trouble or opens his stitches I will cuff him to the cot in medbay."

Dagger couldn't help the snicker that forced its way out of her throat. She quickly quieted herself, but Kix rolled his eyes. He let out one more huff before heading back for the door and out of the barracks, he didn't have time for this osik.

Echo turned back to look at Dagger, he saw her shoulders shaking in amusement. He wished he could see her expression right now.

Once the doors slid closed again she threw the blanket off of her and Echo propped himself up on his elbow, "You didn't mention that Kix would be hunting you down, what happened?"

She giggled, "I may or may not have snuck out of the medbay when he wasn't paying attention."

He laughed, "You're impossible."

Her helmet tilted and Echo could guess that she was smiling under there. He wanted to pull her in for a hug but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead he asked, "Why don't you hate me? You have every right in the universe to do so."

"I could ask you the same question. I have lied to you for so long and hid what I truly am from you. You were just trying to help. I understand that now, so I'm not going to hold that against you," her voice was quiet but strong.

Echo stayed quiet for a moment, debating how to continue. He didn't want to lie to Dagger, he never did. He needed to tell her, "Dagger, I-"

He halted his words but she tilted her head encouragingly. He took a breath and continued, "I kissed you to try and protect your secret, but that's not the only reason. I was selfish to force that on you and probably selfish to tell you this. But I need you to know that I-"

"Echo," she cut him off, "You don't have to say it."

He looked into her visor with desperate eyes, "Please Dagger, I need to tell you."

She nodded.

"Dagger I love you. It started as a stupid crush that just kept getting bigger and bigger. I just want to protect you and keep you happy. I have loved you for a while and I know that you don't love me. There is nothing wrong with that but I felt like it would be lying to you if I didn't tell you."

Dagger put her hand over Echo's on the bed between them, "I'm sorry Echo, I-"

"No," he said sternly, "Don't you dare apologize for something I did. It doesn't matter what my feelings are, I still should have never kissed you without permission. I won't try anything ever again I promise. I just wanted to ask if we could still be friends after all of this."

Her grip tightened slightly, "Of course, I don't think I could ever not be your friend, but I don't think I could ever feel the same way you do and I'm sorry for that. It's not that you did anything wrong, it's just that there is someone else."

"That's all I could ask Dagger, more than I could ask for really."

~B~

Rex woke up on his back this time. His eyes opened before he even realized that he was awake. He stared at the ceiling and contemplated his own body.

There was no aching in his head, nothing was hurting. Upon that realization, he sat up and looked around. The medbay looked pretty empty, aside from one of the medics sitting at a desk in the corner.

Cobalt heard Rex sit up and came over to the cot, "Captain, how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, nothing hurts anymore. How long was I out for?"

"You were asleep for almost 18 hours. It seemed like your body really needed to rest. Have you been sleeping properly?"

Rex just looked at Cobalt like he had a second head, "I'm the Captain of Torrent company, does it look like I get enough sleep?"

Cobalt let out a chuckle, "I guess that answers my question then. As much as I know it is pointless to say this, you really should be getting six to eight hours of sleep every night."

"Noted," Rex moved his legs so they hung off the side of the bed, "So what did I miss?"

"Not much. Hardcase got released after we fixed his leg injury. Everyone who received injuries was cleared for duty again. Surprisingly even Dagger has recovered enough to be cleared. Nasty scar, but he'll be fine. So fine in fact that he snuck out of the medbay and Kix let him get away with it. Last one here is you Captain."

"Kix let Dagger get away with leaving medbay early? Has he gone soft?" Rex asked with a small smile.

"I heard that," came a call from the other side of the room.

Cobalt just laughed, "I think all the medics have a soft spot for Dagger after what happened."

Rex raised an eyebrow, "Even you?"

The medic rolled his eyes, "The little shit is a pain, but yes even me."

"Little brothers am I right?" Rex asked with a smile. At Cobalt's huff he changed the subject, "So when will I be cleared?"

"If you are up for a bio scan right now I could tell you," he responded and Rex nodded his consent immediately.

The scan only took a minute or two. Cobalt checked his blood pressure, pulse, and various other things that Rex barely paid attention to. He did not zone out because it was boring, not at all.

Cobalt snapped his fingers to get his attention back, "Alright Captain, I can't find any reason to keep you here any longer. My recommendation is to take it easy for the next 24 hours. I know we are good at dealing with concussions, but that doesn't mean you won't feel any side effects."

"Thank you Cobalt," he said, sliding off the bed and standing up, "And thank you for helping the rest of the men too. I'm glad you got assigned to the 501st, we could always use medics like you."

Cobalt preened at the praise and he straightened up a little bit, "Always a pleasure Captain, I'm glad I can help watch over you boys."

With that Rex grabbed his pile of armor that had been sitting on the table next to the cot. He made his way back to the barracks. He was content in that moment that Torrent was all aboard the Resolute, everyone was healed and cleared. He hadn't heard of anything worse happening since he woke up. Maybe he would actually be able to get some paperwork done before they got reassigned.

He walked into the barracks and was happy to find that everyone was behaving for the most part. There was a small gaggle of people towards the back of the room, but they weren't being obnoxious.

It was a lazy afternoon aboard the Resolute. He put away all his armor in the trunks not bothering to clean it. He rarely did so anyway, a little dirt gave the armor character anyway.

He made his way to the showers and rinsed off before putting on some off duty fatigues. Rex was still toweling off his hair when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.

Fives and Echo were sitting on Fives' bunk, he caught a glimpse of Echo's face and was shocked to see him covered in bruises. Injuries that he did not remember being reported or even mentioned.

"Echo," he called the Arc trooper, beckoning him over to his bunk. The man immediately stood and went over to meet him.

"Yes sir?"

"Did you get mauled by a Gundark? What happened to your face?"

Echo looked down and scuffed the toe of his boot along the ground, "Just got caught up in the action of the fight I guess."

Rex crossed his arms over his chest, "Echo, you are the worst liar in the unit. Why do you even try at this point?"

"Because I'm hoping that one day it will actually work," he mumbled.

Rex scoffed, "Who did this to you Echo? Do I need to go have a talk with someone?"

Echo shook his head quickly, a bit too quickly, "No sir, the situation has already been handled. I actually-"

He cut himself off and rocked on his feet trying to appear that he had said all that he needed to say. Rex didn't believe it for a second, his eyes softened, "Echo you know that infighting is against the regs. I really wish you would tell me who did this to you so I could help fix the problem. I will not allow anyone in my unit to get beaten for no reason, especially not you."

Echo looked exceedingly guilty now. If he hadn't promised Dagger that he wouldn't tell Rex he surely would have by now. But a promise was a promise, "It wasn't for no reason sir, but I already promised to not talk about it. Please sir? Can we just let this one go?"

Rex sighed, damn Echo and those pleading puppy eyes, "Fine, but if this keeps happening I will be stepping in."

"Yes sir, I understand."

Rex just sighed and went to sit on his bunk. His ass had even touched the mattress when his comm chirped. He immediately bounced back up to standing and answered the call, "This is Rex."

"Captain Rex, I just got word from Kix that you are up and cleared for active duty again."

"Yes General Skywalker," Oh this was going to be good.

"Awesome, meet me and Ahsoka in the briefing room."

The call disconnected and Rex let out a sigh as he started to put his armor back on. It was to be expected that they wouldn't get much of a break. He really should have expected this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we are heading into the next story arc. This chapter tied up a lot of loose ends, but there are still a few things that need to be cleared up. Please comment to let me know what you though of this chapter or what you think will happen next time.


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so glad that everyone is enjoying the story. Now, I know that some of you are getting a bit antsy for a face reveal. I assure you it is intentional, I mean I never promised to give a quick reveal and I'll admit that I do like the tension that it brings. A lot happens in this chapter and I'm super excited to see what everyone thinks of this one and especially the one I have planned for after this.

Commander Tano and General Skywalker were already waiting in the briefing room for him when Rex arrived. The holotable had ship schematics pulled up on it.

"Isn't that the Mandalorian Duchess' ship sir?"

"Yes, the Coronet is a one of a kind ship. I have been on it a few times myself but I wanted Ahsoka and you to have a chance to take a look too," General Skywalker explained.

"So we're going to Mandalore?" Rex asked, he didn't even realize they would be having a mission so he had no idea what to expect with this one.

"Not this time. The Republic is holding a conference to discuss refugees that have been displaced in the course of the war and how they can help them. Many neutral worlds have been called in to moderate and provide outside views to the situation. Mandalore is one of those systems. However, since all of the Senators will be gathered on Naboo it is a great target for Seperatist attacks," Skywalker explained, "Since we are closest to Mandalore we have been assigned to join the Coronet and guard the Dutchess throughout the conference."

"Yes sir," Rex nodded along, "I can go get the boys ready now. When will we be leaving?"

"Not so fast Rex," Anakin halted him with a raised hand, "We aren't taking all of the 501st or even all of Torrent Company."

Rex's head tilted and the Jedi continued, "The Duchess has requested a small team, no more than eight."

"Why? Surely we would be able to mitigate more threats if we had larger numbers."

"That's just what the Duchess said, I was surprised she agreed to an escort at all. There will be details assigned to the other senators from different battalions. It is just a glorified body guard mission."

Rex straightened up, "Nothing we can't handle General Skywalker."

"I actually had some ideas about who we would be taking," Ahsoke piped up, holding up a data pad for inspection.

Rex scanned the names quickly, "Hardcase? No disrespect, but why him sir?"

"Well, I was looking at his training scores and he had great numbers for training course kills, I was thinking he would be good as a sharp shooter for the mission. A sniper who could watch from up high if we need it."

Rex tried to conceal his snicker, he really did, "If I may, sir, the reason Hardcase has numbers like that is because he uses his Z-6 rotary blaster. I think he would be a pretty poor sniper."

He paused for a moment to pull up a document on the data pad, "However these three were the top scoring in our last accuracy competition. Fives, Echo, and Dagger in that order."

"I already have Fives on the mission for a different job, what about Echo?" Ahsoka suggested.

"No," Skywalker interrupted, "We can't take both of Torrent's ARC troopers with us. Echo needs to stay here to lead the company in our absence. We can bring Dagger if he has been cleared by Kix."

"Yes sir, all my men have been medically cleared. Just to clarify, I get to come too right?"

Skywalker allowed a wide smile to spread across his face, Rex didn't necessarily like that look. It usually meant that the General was having too much fun with all of this, "Of course Rex. I wouldn't leave you behind."

"Well, I just sent you the list Captain, make sure you tell them to bring their dress uniforms. The schedule says that there is a fancy dinner or ball of some sort. We need to leave in the next hour if we are going to connect with the Coronet on time," Ahsoka said.

Rex snapped to attention and rendered a salute, "Yes sir."

After being dismissed, he made his way straight to the barracks. That is where everyone had been gathered earlier so they would hopefully all be there.

As he walked down the hallway he was intercepted by a call, "Captain Rex!"

He slowed down and turned, Dagger was walking quickly towards him, "What's up Dagger?"

"I hadn't realized that you were out of medbay yet, I wanted to talk to you."

Rex knew that he didn't have time but he was curious about what Dagger was going to say. He nodded for the smaller man to follow him as he walked, "About what?"

"Well, I promised you something while we were in the medbay and I wanted to follow through on that promise," Dagger's hands trembled, but she hid it well. She was really nervous to tell Rex, but now seemed like as good a time as any.

The Captain stopped for a moment, he placed a hand on Dagger's pauldron, "Dagger I appreciate that. I really do. I will always be there to listen or to help, but right now we don't have time. We just got assigned a new mission and we need to get ready to go."

He saw Dagger's shoulders fall and he felt a twinge of regret. It wasn't like he wanted to stop the trooper from doing something that he wanted, but the mission always came first.

"You can tell me if we have time later tonight? If you still want to then," Rex said as a placating gesture.

She nodded, "Later tonight then."

She had waited this long. She could wait just a few hours more even if the anticipation felt like it was going to kill her. She needed to know how Rex was going to react and the longer she waited the more negative possibilities her mind creatively supplied.

Rex made it into the barracks and called the room's attention, "Alright listen up. Special detail for a new mission. Pack your things we are going on a trip. Cricket, Dagger, Fives, Jesse and Kix. Let's go, we have thirty minutes to be in the hangar with our gear, bring your dress blues. Echo please don't look at me like that, I didn't pick the group Commander Tano did. You know the deal with you ARCs, you are in charge while I'm gone."

Dagger looked over at Echo to see him pouting on his bunk. She quickly made her way over to her drawers and pulled out her duffel. She started packing her things and startled when a hand brushed against hers.

She looked up and saw Echo looking at her. He grabbed various items and handed them to her. She smiled at the help and nodded her thanks. Echo took a breath, "Be safe, ok? Like actually safe this time."

"I will. I promise," she responded before smiling behind her helmet, "I think Cobalt might kick my ass if I got sent back to the medbay so soon."

Echo rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, best not to get on his bad side. He packs a mean punch."

Dagger frowned and reached up to inspect Echo's chin again. He pulled back, catching her hand in his own and lowering them together, "Don't do that."

"Echo-" she said softly, but he cut her off.

"I'm fine, you know it was deserved," he almost laughed at the way her helmet tilted, he knew that she would be scowling under her helmet.

Rex kept his facial expressions decidedly neutral. He didn't intentionally eavesdrop on his men, never had, but Dagger had the bunk next to his. So he heard the pair's conversation.

He wondered how Echo knew that Cobalt had a strong punch. The way that Dagger reached for his bruised jaw made him think that the two things were connected. He would need to talk to Kix or Dagger later tonight to see what had happened. Maybe if he talked to each of them alone he would get answers about what happened.

Rex was just finishing packing his things when he was approached by the subject of his thoughts, Echo. He paused and gave the man his full attention.

Echo seemed comfortable enough to speak first, "Sir, last mission you told me to watch over Dagger and I really did try my best, but now you all are leaving without me. Would you keep him safe and out of trouble for me while you are gone?"

Rex nodded seriously, "Of course Echo. You know I will watch them all, but I'll take special care of Dagger, I promise."

Echo seemed satisfied with that response and returned to Dagger who was shaking her head at him, "You know I can take care of myself right?"

The Arc just laughed and looped an arm behind her head and pulled her down. He rapped his knuckles into his helmet playfully and Dagger squawked in objection. Rex just chuckled at the pair, they really did seem like good friends. It almost made him wonder if there was something more going on.

It didn't necessarily seem to be anything of that sort, but he had known a lot of vod in his own unit that kept things very subtle. Rex's eyes slid across the room to said pair and smiled. They were happy together, but had no clue that their Captain knew about their relationship.

Rex shook his head, Dagger and Echo were just friends. That was a good thing, everyone needed those, even Rex sometimes. He closed up his duffel and squared away all of his other belongings. It didn't feel right to leave things out when he didn't know quite how long they would be gone for.

Dagger gave Echo a quick hug before grabbing her duffel and following Rex to the hangar. The other four finished with their packing and said quick goodbyes before following as well.

~B~

The flight had been uneventful so far. Commander Tano had briefed everyone again on the overall mission, once she was satisfied that they knew what was going on she left the rest to Rex and returned to the cockpit to fly the shuttle with Anakin.

"Alright specifics, Kix you are here for medical support in case of an emergency. Be sure you have what you need at all times. Everything from bandages to anti-poison medications, you never know what is going to happen at these things."

Kix nodded, he knew all too well how often people got poisoned at these kinds of events.

"Jesse, Cricket, and Fives, you are building and ship security. It is your job to make sure that the premises are secure and everyone is identified. You will assist the guards so you won't be working alone. Don't cause any trouble or try and take over any of their operations, be sure to give me frequent updates. "

The trio all seemed to understand, or at least didn't have any questions pressing enough to ask immediately. That left Rex with just one more trooper to give an assignment to.

"Dagger, you and I will be supplementing the Duchess' personal guards. Also, if needed, even though I doubt it will be necessary, you will be our sniper to cover any large open spaces. During the trip, we will be with the Duchess most of the day, and during the conference we will be with her at all times."

Once he had finished, he asked if anyone had questions. There were multiple about the details of the event, such as schedules and schematics. Everyone wanted to be prepared and they were making mental notes of possible targets and weak spots that would need to be corrected.

The conversation faded from question into small talk and Rex took this as his cue to get answers to his questions from earlier. As subtle as he could in the small ship he cornered Kix away from the others.

The medic was checking and rechecking the medkits he had brought, supplies spread out over the holotable. Rex may or may not have pulled the scary Captain card and corralled him in the corner.

Kix had backed up to give him space until his back hit the bulkhead. Even though they were the same height it still seemed like he was looking up at the Captain, "Y-yes sir? Is there something you needed?"

Rex let a stern look spread across his face, "Yes, I need you to tell me what happened between Echo and Cobalt. I know that something happened and I need to know what. I will not tolerate my troopers fighting each other."

The medic swallowed hard, eyes flickering behind Rex for a moment before looking back up at him. There was a certain air of guilt in his eyes that made Rex's eyes narrow and for him to lean in, "Kix."

Kix held up his hands quickly and he talked even quicker, "Look Captain. It wasn't supposed to happen, honestly. They weren't fighting. We just had a bit of a miscommunication."

"Miscommunication?" Rex growled, "Echo's face is half covered in bruises. I think that is a little bit more than a miscommunication."

"Look Captain," Kix was trying to reassure Rex but also not make the situation worse, "I was going with Cobalt to talk to Echo about something. I thought it was understood that we were just going to talk, but before I could even say anything Cobalt had already clocked him a few times. I shut him down and we all figured it out from there."

"So Cobalt had an issue with Echo?" Rex asked, still not happy but at least he was getting responses now.

"Yes."

"What did Echo do to him? Something had to have happened for that kind of response."

"Echo didn't do anything to Cobalt," Kix said.

Rex wanted to growl in frustration, "Stop twisting words Kix, just spit it out. Why did Cobalt fight Echo?"

"There was no fight sir, Echo let himself get hit. He never once lifted a finger to fight back."

"Kix that doesn't make any sense. What ha-"

"Echo broke the taboo," Kix interrupted quickly. He said it so fast Rex almost asked him to repeat it. Echo had broken a taboo? Which one?

"Which taboo Kix?"

Kix shook his head and tried to push through Rex to escape. The Captain wasn't finished and shoved him back into the wall with a strong hand on his chest plate. The resulting bang of armor on durasteel called the attention of the other troopers, they looked over warily but carried on when they saw that Kix wasn't in any real danger. Everyone knew that the way to get Kix to talk fast was to intimidate him. Rex was scary sometimes but he would never hurt one of his own without extraordinary cause.

"Tell me. Right now."

"No," in any other situation Rex would have been impressed with the resolve he saw in Kix's eyes, "I don't agree with what Cobalt did, but Echo sure as hell got what he deserved. That kid doesn't have as much sense as he should and Cobalt was probably trying to knock it into him. Everything is handled and done now. So, if you will excuse me, I have to complete my inventory for the mission."

This time when Kix pushed away Rex let him. He made his way back to the holotable and Rex made his way to the cockpit to check up on things. Just before he entered he heard Fives shout over to Kix, "Did Captain find your X-Magazines?"

"FIVES!" The medic squawked. Rex suppressed a chuckle, he could give Kix a hard time about that later but he had already pulled the intimidation card once this trip and that was enough.

~B~

Soon everything between the clones had evened out and the ship was docking in the bay of the Coronet. They secured their helmets on their heads and grabbed their duffels to swing over their shoulders.

General Skywalker led them inside and greeted a blond woman that Dagger didn't recognize. She listened closely as they exchanged words, "Duchess Satine, thank you for having us."

"Thank you for coming General Skywalker. Just because I am against violence does not mean that others will feel the same way. I am certain that there will be those who do not want this conference to happen," she said.

Ah, so that was the Duchess they would be protecting. She certainly looked like the ruler of a world, all important and everything like that.

Dagger definitely zoned out as they were led somewhere in the big ship because all of a sudden the six troopers were in front of doors and the Duchess and General were nowhere to be found. She forced herself to focus on what Rex was saying.

"Three rooms for all of us, none of you are allowed in the fourth room at the end because that is where Commander Tano is staying. Two to a room and no complaining. We are here to protect the Duchess, but we are still guests and these are the only rooms that could be spared. I'm staying here, so you all figure out who is sleeping where I don't care."

He went into his claimed room closing the door lightly behind him. Jesse was the first to speak as he loudly exclaimed, "I call Kix!"

The tattooed clone then proceeded to drag the medic into their room and Dagger looked quickly to Fives. The man smirked and said, "Let's go Cricket you're with me."

The man fist pumped in success and made his way into the room he would be sharing with Fives. She looked at her friend in panic. He just made it so she had to stay with Captain Rex, "Fives!"

He smiled as he sauntered up to her and whispered in her ear, "Don't think I don't know about your crush. You ain't gotta do anything, but he is your roommate for now. Scram kid, you'll thank me later."

Her cheeks were bright red, did everyone know? She had never said anything about that to anyone? Was that even allowed? She pushed through her questions and opened the door. Rex was perched on the foot of the bed reading his datapad.

The bed. She frantically scanned the room, the bed. The only bed in the room. Oh no. This was starting to feel like a cheesy holonovel.

"Thank the stars it's you. If I had to stay in this room with Fives I'm pretty sure we would be going back with five instead of six," he said.

She laughed, trying to calm her nerves, "He's not that annoying."

"Fair enough. But anyways I was going over the itinerary of the Duchess tonight. Want to go take a look with me," he asked, patting the bed softly beside him for her to sit.

She sat down and immediately sunk into the mattress. She pressed her hand into it experimentally, "Captain, have you ever felt a bed this soft?"

"Not that I can remember," he trailed off at the end of his sentence as he also pressed his hand into the mattress, "Kriff, that is soft."

He flopped backwards and groaned in appreciation. She laughed at him and he lifted his head and smiled at her, "Lay down, we aren't in a hurry."

Her cheeks flamed at the thought of laying down next to him, "It's ok, I'll feel it tonight when I lay down to go to sleep."

Rex frowned at her playfully and grabbed her arm and pulled her suddenly so she fell back next to him. She let out a yelp of surprise before she sank into the plush bed, "Ooohhh."

"I know right?"

They both laughed together for a moment then lapsed into comfortable silence simply staring up at the ceiling.

"Thank you for letting me come on this mission Captain."

He tilted his head up to look at her "How many times do I have to ask you to just call me Rex when we aren't out in the field?"

"I mean technically we are out in the field, but I get what you mean. I'm sorry Rex."

He smiled and she laid her head back down, "I already told you all, I didn't pick who came and who didn't. It was all General Skywalker."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dagger nod. Rex figured this might be a good time to ask Dagger if he knew what had happened between Echo and Cobalt. Perhaps what he had been asking Kix to keep secret had been something else.

They were good friends so surely he knew what had happened. He knew he should probably let it go, but it really wasn't in his nature. He took a deep breath of preparation, "Hey did something happen between Echo an-"

"No," she interrupted forcefully, "Nothing happened between Echo and I."

He blinked, he sat up on his elbows and looked down at Dagger, "I was going to say Cobalt, but it seems from your reaction something did happen between you and Echo."

Dagger sat up fully, looking away from Rex. He mirrored her, "Is something going on with you and Echo?"

A trickle of worry fell down his spine. Had he misjudged them, had he misjudged Dagger. Had he been flirting with someone who did not want his advances? He had never heard any attempts to stop him or get him to back off, but he was suddenly unsure of himself.

"No," she said quickly.

"Dagger," Rex started, "If something is going on you just have to tell me and I can back off. I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable. I was just wondering why Echo had bruises all over his face."

"Oh, that's what you are asking," she said, "I'm not in a relationship with Echo."

Rex frowned at the harsh way Dagger said the words. There seemed to be a bit of bad blood that he hadn't realized before, "Good. Well- uhh, I mean that's ok. But something definitely happened. Do you want to talk about it? Are you ok?"

Dagger let out a humorless laugh, if she was being honest with herself she was still hurt about the whole thing. She hadn't wanted to kiss Echo, she wanted her first kiss to be given to someone else, not taken without permission. She still felt violated by the whole situation.

She shook her head as it fell forward, "No, not really."

Rex's brow furrowed in concern. He moved a bit closer and placed his hand on his thigh, face up in an offer to be held if Dagger wanted, "What happened?"

"Cobalt hit Echo because he kissed me," she admitted softly.

Her words were quiet but she might as well have just dropped a bomb on Rex. He felt the hot boil of anger flare in his belly. He would never admit it but there was also a twang of jealousy in the mix.

"But you just said you weren't in a relationship with him," Rex hoped this wasn't going where he thought it was.

"We aren't," she tried to contain her emotion, but she spat the words out, "He didn't ask, he just did it."

She clenched her fists together, her arms trembled with anger, "He took my first kiss without even asking. I- I want to hate him so bad even if I can't. I hate what he did, I hate how it happened. I thought that I would actually be able to choose for once and like everything else in my life there was no choice."

Rex saw red. A million emotions swirled through him at once. Top three had to be anger, sickness, and a need for vengeance. His fingers dug into his thighs, his knuckles going white with the pressure. His breathing came in quick pants.

How could Echo do that? To Dagger! He had betrayed him, betrayed all of them. How could Kix have protected him like that? Echo himself should have told him so Rex could have pummeled him into a paste.

Court Martial be damned, he might have killed Echo if he had been there right now. He would certainly get the beating of a lifetime when Rex got back. Echo had no right to take that from Dagger. To steal a choice from a brother. The thought made Rex sick.

He realized that Dagger was shaking him and he snapped his head over to look at him, "Hey! Rex! Can you hear me?"

His voice was tight and his body trembled much like Dagger's had just moments ago, "I hear you. I- I can't believe he did that. Dagger I promise you he will pay for what he did. He will not get away with stealing that choice from you.

"No!" he was startled by the adamant response, "No, that's not what I want. I don't want everyone to go around beating Echo up. He already is doing that enough."

"I sincerely doubt that but continue," he couldn't help his interruption.

"Rex, can I tell you something?"

He nodded, "Echo, he told me that he loved me."

The anger flared up just as strong as before and Rex leapt to his feet. His voice was nearly shouting, "He has no right to do that! That doesn't excuse his actions! Did he think that telling you that would just make everything ok? To clarify, it doesn't! He didn't ask for consent! Even if it was just a kiss it was your first and that is special! There is nothing in this universe that could have been so important that could justify stealing that from you! It's not right! How dare he even ask to protect you when he had pulled that level of shit. He had no regard for you and yet he still asked- He shouldn't have- he couldn't have…"

His voice trailed off as he ran out of air and was left panting, emotions flooding through him. He couldn't keep track of the swirling thoughts in his head.

Dagger stood and reached up for his face. Rex pouted slightly at the tenderness. Dagger let out a huff and he allowed him to proceed. His gloved thumbs swiped across Rex's cheeks and brushed away the angry tears that he hadn't realized he had shed.

Rex caught Dagger's hands as they started to lower. He looked into the blank vizor apologetically, "I'm sorry, I should be comforting you instead of letting my emotions get the better of me."

"I'm ok Rex, really. In all honesty, I didn't think that I would survive long enough to get a first kiss anyway. This war has a funny way of taking things without mercy."

That thought made Rex sad, "Can I give you a hug, Dagger?"

The helmet nodded and Dagger opened her arms. Rex stepped forward quickly and wrapped the smaller soldier in his arms. She laughed and rubbed his back slightly, "You don't have to ask to hug me you know. It's just the kissing that you have to ask about."

His words slipped out before he could stop them, "Would I be allowed to ask that?"

Dagger froze. That hadn't been what she was expecting when she tried to reassure Rex that everything would be ok. She hadn't even meant to imply that she wanted him to kiss her. If he asked she would surely agree in a nanosecond. Could she tell him that? How would that make her look?

"Not right now."

"Wait, no!" Rex balked, he finally realized what he had said, "That's not what I meant. I don't wa- I mean I- I was just trying to- I just-"

Kriff! Could he just sort out his words for once in his sorry life. He just cut himself off and just held Dagger closer, "I'm sorry. I won't ask again."

Dagger opened her mouth to say something but closed it again to reconsider. If she told him she could accidentally push him into doing something just to make her feel better. Certainly he wouldn't like her when he found out what she was. She didn't want to get both of their hopes up. That would just make it harder for the both of them when it didn't work out.

Rex hugged Dagger tightly. He knew that asking that question was a bad idea. He didn't want to push him, especially not after something like that had happened. He tried to calm himself down from his angry high.

He decided then and there that he wouldn't push Dagger. He wouldn't go any further than what he had already done. He figured he could still show subtle interest with his admittedly awful flirting, but he wouldn't ask for anything more. It wouldn't be fair to Dagger to ask for more.

Anything that the man wanted Rex was sure that he would give in an instant, all he had to do was ask. Rex was not going to be the one to ask, he would let everything, if anything, happen and progress on Dagger's terms.

They stood like that for a long time. Rex felt his heart rate dropping back to a comfortable level. Dagger felt herself relaxing more than she had in the past few days. In a weird way it was nice to see Rex so protective of her.

He cared, at least enough to get angry about what Echo did. She hadn't wanted to tell him, but now that it was out she was glad she didn't have to hide it anymore.

"We should go check in with General Skywalker and meet the guards we will be working with," he said, as he pulled away. She nodded and he placed his helmet on his head.

As they started to walk out the door she almost smacked herself in the head. She had gotten so caught up that she missed an opportunity to show Rex. Kriff it all to hell. At this rate the war would be over before she got a chance to tell him. She let out a sigh and dutifully followed her Captain.

They approached a door that two guards were standing outside of . They were wearing blue and silver uniforms and carried long staffs. Their helmets were wide and only allowed the eyes of the guards to be seen.

"Good afternoon, I am Captain Rex of the five hundred and first battalion. You should have been informed that we were coming."

"Identification please."

They both held out their left wrists and the guard scanned them and brought up their identification tabs with their CT numbers and names. The guard nodded, "Welcome, go on in."

"Thank you sir."

The pair entered into what turned out to be a conference room. The Duchess sat at the head of the table and was talking with her advisors. General Skywalker was standing off to the side with one of the guards and motioned for them to come over.

"Rex, Dagger, everything good to go with the rooms?"

"Yes sir, the rest of the team is all settled in. We came to check in with you," Rex reported.

"Good, this is Keb Renkoa, Captain of the Duchess' personal guard," he said.

The man in question stepped forward and shook each of their hands, "Pleasure to meet you both. We appreciate you boys being here. Our number one priority is the safety of the Duchess."

"Understood Captain," the troopers said in unison.

Rex carried on, "Anything we can do to help just let us know. We don't want to get in your way."

"Good," he said with a smile, "Then we won't be having any problems. Tonight the Duchess will finish her meetings with her council and then have dinner. You will be relieved of duty at night time when the Duchess retires to her quarters. Until then you will stay by her side and keep a weather eye out. We have had attacks aboard the Coronet before, we will not be unprepared should it happen again."

"Captain, what if there is an attack when the Duchess is asleep," Dagger asked.

"Then we will call you," Keb answered, "The guard will be watching over while she sleeps."

Dagger nodded and the guard Captain dismissed them. She leaned in to Rex to whisper quietly, "So we got two Captains now huh?"

He laughed and nudged her gently with his shoulder to push her back out of his personal space. They took up a position along the wall where they could watch the exits and every one in the room. After switching to their internal comm system they were able to talk within their helmets without disturbing anyone else in the room.

As time passed the council started to leave one by one to get ready for dinner. Soon enough it was only the Duchess with them. She had a short conversation with Captain Keb and then he introduced them.

"Captain Rex it is good to see you again, and Dagger it is an honor to meet you," she greeted warmly.

"The honor is mine ma'am," Dagger said, dipping her head slightly.

"I trust that you will do your best to not start any unnecessary violence."

"Not if we can help it, however we are here to keep you safe so we can make no promises," Rex said.

"Good," she started to leave but something caught her eye and she paused, "What is that soldier?"

"My blaster?" Dagger asked as the Duchess gestured to her waist.

"No on your thigh, may I look at it?"

Dagger looked to Rex and he nodded, she unfastened the closing on the holster of her dagger and removed it. She held it out for the Duchess to look at. One hand rested on the hilt, the other under the blade which was pointed towards Dagger and away from the Duchess to ensure that she was non threatening. Dagger felt like she was being scrutinized for her dagger and she didn't like it.

Satine gasped at the sight of it and moved forward with her hand extended as if to take the dagger. Dagger pulled it closer to her body protectively, afraid that it would be taken. The Duchess looked at her, "Where did you get this?"

"Coruscant, it was given to me by a man there," Dagger answered.

"What did he look like? Do you know his name?" her questions almost seemed frantic.

"His name was Old Man Bean, he was a shopkeeper in a weapons store. He was short with grey hair," Dagger said, she was extremely confused as to why she was being questioned so much.

Captain Keb cleared his throat to get Satine's attention and she seemed to calm down, or at least pretend to, "Meet me in my quarters after dinner, both of you."

"Yes, Duchess," they answered and then watched as her and her personal guard left. They were left alone, Dagger put her blade away and saw Rex looking at her.

"Captain, I didn't do anything," she said quickly.

"I didn't say you did anything," he replied defensively, "What was that about?"

"I don't know, she can't take my dagger away can she?"

"No, it belongs to you. Technically, since clones are Republic property everything we own is also Republic property that is allocated to individuals for care. Everything we own is protected and to take it is in fact a crime."

She let out a sigh of relief at the statement, she spoke softly as if talking to herself, "It's the only thing in this world that I can call my own."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Hey, don't worry little'un. She won't take it, no one will. I mean it's in your name. Dagger has gotta have a dagger."


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I'm so excited to post this chapter, it is one of the most important ones in the story. I really hope you like it and if you have any questions you can leave it in the comments and I can try to respond. Also I love reviews so if you liked the chapter I would love to know what you thought! Enjoy!

Dinner was uneventful, Rex and Dagger stood on opposite ends of the room, constantly scanning for threats. Near the end of dinner, Anakin snuck off and returned with two plates of food for the troopers. Rex clipped his helmet to his belt and practically inhaled the food with how quickly he ate. Dagger on the other hand just politely waved off the General's offer.

Anakin didn't take offense to the refusal, he had expected it anyway, and just mentioned that he would leave it somewhere if she wanted to come back and get it later. Dagger smiled under her helmet. It was the gesture that counted anyway and the General always looked after them.

Soon enough the pair of soldiers were summoned to Duchess Satine's personal quarters. Captain Keb ushered them inside. The Duchess was sitting on a chair facing the sofa. They sat across from her and waited for her to speak.

"Please, take off your helmets so we can converse comfortably," she requested.

Rex took off his helmet and set it in his lap, but Dagger remained still. She looked at the clone in question and Dagger said, "The helmet stays on."

Satine let out a polite laugh, "How very Mandalorian of you. Very well. I have asked for you to come because of the dagger you carry."

"I didn't take it from anyone and you can't take it from me," she spoke up, her voice strong. It left no room for argument. Rex rested a hand on her knee giving her a warning look.

"You are fashioned from Mandalorian DNA are you not?"

She nodded and Satine continued, "If you would allow the dagger to be taken from you then you would be betraying that DNA and the heritage of that blade."

"I wouldn't," Dagger insisted.

"Good, however it does sadden me to see it again. I am quite sure that you have seen the inscription on the blade. That is the heritage blade of the Kotep'an bloodline. One of the oldest Mandalorian families, a bloodline that stretches back over six hundred years by the lowest of estimates."

"I was told that the last owner of this blade gave it away. The man who gave it to me said that a traveller had lost their child and had no one else to pass it on to. The shopkeeper held on to it for a long time and then gave it to me when I met him."

Satine listened intently, "I hoped it was not true, but it seems that the worst has come, and many years ago at that. At the beginning of my reign, there were many who disagreed with the new direction of Mandalore. Death Watch was formed in opposition, a terrorist group. I sent the Captain of my personal guard to them as a spy. He was the only one willing to volunteer. He would give us valuable information on attacks that Death Watch had planned and he saved many lives. Then suddenly his transmissions stopped, I had hoped that he was just going deeper undercover, but if what you say is true then he is surely dead."

Dagger took a moment to absorb all of that, "What was his name?"

"Sif Kotep'an. He was a good man, a true Mandalorian and a close friend of mine."

Rex chimed in for the first time, "And the child?"

"If they are still alive they are the last of the Kotep'an line. However, for Sif to pass on the dagger to a stranger, it is unlikely that they survived. Sif's wife died in childbirth. You, Dagger, are now the one who will have to carry the burden of the Kotep'an family with you. An honor, but a burden," Satine said.

Dagger squared her shoulders, listening closely. She was willing to do as the Duchess asked but she didn't know if she would be able to. How could she continue a family heritage? She was just one defective clone.

The Duchess seemed to sense her hesitation, "It doesn't matter who your father was, it only matters what kind of a father you will become. This is a common saying in our culture. Please take care of this weapon and remember all those who held it before you."

"How can I honor them if I don't even know who they are?" Dagger asked, she desperately wanted to do as she asked but had no way to achieve such a thing.

Satine gestured to Keb and he brought forward a datapad that he handed to Dagger, "This contains all records of the Kotep'an line. Every battle and war that they ever fought in, names, spouses, and children. I know that you have no use for last names in your profession, but if this wretched war ever comes to an end will you consider taking the Kotep'an name as your own and continue the tradition that they held?"

"Of course," Dagger responded quickly. All of the Kotep'ans were gone and if she could be a part of something bigger than herself she would do it in a heartbeat.

"Mandalore thanks you Dagger, should you ever need assistance from us you can always ask. That blade works just as well a key as it does a weapon, opening doors you didn't know were even closed."

"Thank you," Dagger stood and left as they were dismissed.

~B~

"So no pressure right?" Rex asked.

"Yeah, no big. Not like the ruler of an entire world just asked me to carry on the legacy of an ancient family that I have never and will never meet," Dagger responded.

"Dagger Kotep'an, you have to admit it has a nice ring to it," Rex commented.

She nodded in agreement, it was a good name. She hoped that someday she would be able to use it. She hoped she would be worthy to use it.

Once back in the corridor where they were staying, Rex checked in with the rest of their team. Apparently, each room had a holoscreen, so everyone who was not currently needed was content to stay put in their rooms and out of trouble. Surprisingly, Fives was even staying put, he had passed out hours ago and Cricket was drawing tattoos on his arms with washable armor. He assured Rex that everything would be covered with his blacks and was washable.

Rex met Dagger inside their shared room. He started to shed his armor in preparation for a shower, "Aside from that crazy knowledge dump, at least dinner was good."

Dagger hummed nonchalantly. She was too busy scanning over the new datapad in her hands to really listen to him. Except when she heard a heavy thunk as his helmet hit the floor. She turned to ask what was the matter when her brain stalled out.

Rex was pulling the top half of his blacks over his head. Dagger realized for the first time that she had never seen him undressed. Of everyone who wandered around the barracks naked before or after showers, he had never been one of them. She knew that she should probably look away. She certainly shouldn't be so openly staring, but looking away felt like a sin.

His shoulders were broad and thick muscles corded over his arms and torso. To her surprise his skin was not unmarred. Small white scars littered his skin. One large, but fading scar sat in the middle of his chest.

She wanted to ask where he had gotten it. However, he was a decorated veteran and it was easy to assume that he had gotten it on some war torn planet. Dagger finally pried her eyes off of his undressed torso and looked up at Rex's face. Her cheeks flushed as she realized that he was looking right at her.

His smile widened as he saw Dagger's helmet tilt slightly to look at his face, "Like what you see?"

Something possessed Dagger to respond in kind, "Lookin' like a full meal Rex."

He laughed, but then immediately froze, "Oh no. You didn't eat 'cause of that blasted helmet! Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"I'm fine, I ate before we left, remember?" she said and shook her head at him.

"No, it's not ok. You need food, you are too skinny as it is," he rifled through his pack and pulled out a ration bar, it was all he had. He handed it to her and she accepted with a nod of gratitude.

He sat on the bed and started to unbuckle his boots and leg armor. Grabbing a set of night clothes from his bag he spoke, "I'm going to take a shower, want to join me?"

Dagger sputtered at the statement, eyes bugging wide, "Kriff Rex, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Trying to do something," he replied cheekily.

"Don't play with me Rex," her voice turned sad, "We will both end up getting hurt."

"I'm willing to risk that," he said with a shrug of his shoulders before disappearing into the bathroom, the door latched closed behind him.

Dagger let out a groan and flopped back onto the bed. Why does he have to be so, so Rex? He was a clone for goodness sake, they were all supposed to be identical. Yet he was special. He looked at her differently than everyone else, he treated her differently.

It was easy to talk to him, he was genuine and had never questioned her. She should have known better than to warn him to stay away. She wasn't one hundred percent sure if he was flirting, but it felt like he might be. If he was, then it would probably stop after tonight anyway, after she told him.

Dagger's mind wandered back to her secret as she pulled off her helmet and ate the tasteless ration bar. She hadn't ever intentionally told anyone, yet there were four that knew. None of which she wanted, and it had happened anyway. She wanted choice, she wanted some semblance of control of who knew. She would be devastated if that choice was taken from her again, especially with Rex. She wanted to be able to tell him of her own free will. Not due to an injury, not being forced by an enemy.

If everything was going to be ruined, if her life as she knew it was going to be over because of this secret, she wanted to be the one to decide. It didn't matter if the end result would be the same, she would be the initiating factor.

She thought about telling him now and it was as if her whole body was on fire. It made her anxious and she hated it. There should be nothing holding her back from telling him, but there was always that voice in the back of her head that told her that he would hate her. It told her that he would never accept her and that she would lose whatever it was between her and Rex.

Her heart raced at how easy it would be to just get it over with right now. She could just leave the helmet off without preamble and he would walk out of the fresher and see her face.

She didn't feel like that was fair, she needed to at least warn him. She needed to explain. She had already promised to tell him and she would, she just hadn't gotten the chance to do so yet. Tonight, just a few minutes more.

She heard the shower shut off and she slid her helmet back on. Dagger sat on the bed, chin resting on her knuckles, deep in thought even though her heart pounded.

Rex emerged from the shower in his sweatpants, he was towelling off his short hair. He saw Dagger sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down.

"You ok Dagger?" He asked.

She looked up to respond, but whatever she had been about to say stalled in her throat as she took in his appearance. No shirt, loose pants and a fuzzy towel over his head. He was hot and cute at the same time and she did not know how to handle it.

He walked over to his duffel, bare feet padded softly on the floor. Rex grabbed a sleep shirt and pulled it over his head before he went and sat next to Dagger on the bed. She had to admire the way that the thin cotton material clung to his shoulders and chest. He broke her out of her thoughts when he said, "Shower is clear if you want. I promise I won't bother you."

She looked at him and took in a deep breath. She tried to push down her nerves as she convinced herself that it was now or never. Rex practically felt her anxiety and a look of concern crossed his face, "Hey, are you ok? If I was doing too much all you have to do is tell me. I don't want to make you uncomf-"

"I have something I need to show you," she interrupted, now or never. It has to be now.

Rex went quiet and looked at her patiently. He nodded and she continued, "I've never taken my helmet off in front of anyone before. At least not willingly. I hide myself because I'm ashamed of what I am. I don't like to look at my face, on Kamino I was taught to hide what I am. The Madam told me that my brothers would never accept me for who I am-"

"Dagger," he tried to interrupt. To say anything that would make him understand that he would be accepted. To convince the man that Ker'taa had been wrong.

She put a hand on his thigh and he fell quiet again, "But now I know she was wrong about how to treat clones. And I think I'm starting to understand that what she did to me was wrong too. And maybe, just maybe, she was wrong about what you would think of me."

"She is, I swear to you Dagger nothing could make any of us, nothing could make me not care about you."

She spoke slowly as if trying to stretch time. To delay what she was about to do, "I really hope that is true. I want to be the one to show you, I want to have that choice this time. I need you to know who I am. If you want to kick me out of the 501st I will understand. Honestly, I didn't expect to get this far anyway. Thank you for everything Captain Rex. I just hope you don't hate me as much as I hate who I am."

Dagger started to reach her hands up to her helmet, her fingers brushed the bottom edge. Rex sucked in a quick breath, his hands darted up and grabbed her wrists, "Wait! Dagger, please."

She paused, but didn't lower her shaking hands. She was so nervous she didn't know how long she would be able to wait for him to get out what he wanted to say.

"You don't have to do this. You owe me nothing, if you don't want to show me your face you don't need to. I know everything I need to know about you. You are strong, dedicated, and loyal, you are the best trooper I have ever met. I don't need to see your face to know that," his voice was sincere and he looked into her visor, trying to get her to believe him.

She smiled and leaned forward, bumping her helmet gently against his forehead, "I know I don't need to. That's the point, I want to show you. I don't want to hide from you anymore. I want you to know who I am."

Rex looked at her through her visor and she felt her heart rate skyrocket. He nodded and let go of her wrist. She reached out briefly and pressed her hand to the side of his cheek to feel the warmth of his face, this may be the last time she was ever allowed to touch him. The secret had to come out, she couldn't keep it in anymore.

Dagger took a deep breath. She reached for her helmet. She looked at Rex's face one last time, she savored the way he looked at her. This may be the last time he ever looked at her as a friend, as someone he trusted. She worried that he might hate her, but she had just enough faith to believe that he wouldn't.

The latch hissed as it released and the helmet lifted away. The motion felt foreign and wrong. All of the instincts that had been trained into her were screaming at her to stop, she didn't listen. She had taken off the helmet, it was over, everything out in the open. She looked at him and for the first time her eyes met his with nothing but air in between.

Rex forgot how to breath. Dagger just took off his helmet. His face was beautiful. Dagger was beautiful. Dagger was… Not a he?

He just sat there mouth slightly agape, dumbfounded and in awe. Dagger looked nothing like what he had thought that he would. Rex had been expecting to see a face like his own, covered in scars. What he saw was a girl, a woman. Brown eyes, strong nose and jawline, but feminine in all definitions of the word. She was soft in all of the ways he could never be.

As if on it's own accord, his hand rose toward her face. He paused for a moment, his hand a fraction of an inch away from her skin, "May I?"

She nodded and he gently touched her face. Her cheeks were slightly sunken from wearing the helmet so long and he smoothed his fingers over the divots to alleviate the feeling of compressed skin. His fingers brushed over her cheek and then back to run over her hair. It was light brown, almost mousey in color. The top was just long enough to flop slightly instead of sticking straight up, the sides were buzzed down.

He looked into her eyes and saw the searching expression. She was waiting for him to say something. He let out a breath, "Dagger. You are beautiful."

She blinked and her head backed up just a fraction. Rex smiled and ran his fingers gently through the soft hair on the top of her head, "Amazing. I just- I never knew what you were hiding under the helmet. Under such a hard exterior, I never knew."

He grasped the sides of her face softly and he held her gaze with a gentle awe, "You are a beauty in a bullet's shell."

She blushed bright red and he smiled. He could see her face now, he could see the wonderful expressions across her face, "You aren't mad?"

He let out a short laugh, "Mad? Never. How could I be mad when you trusted me enough to show me yourself?"

"I lied to you. I hid from you. I- I'm defective, I could never be as good as you or any of our vod because I'm a mistake," she tried to explain.

He felt a wave of sadness thinking about what had made her think like this. The way that she had been abused and tormented during training. Conditioned to think that she was a mistake, "No, you are not defective. You want to know why?"

She looked up at him with pleading eyes, "Why?"

"Because only the finest soldiers in the GAR are assigned to the 501st. I think we are the lucky ones to have you assigned to Torrent company. You are not a mistake Dagger, you never were. You are a gift."

Dagger could feel emotion welling up inside her and she threw her arms around Rex. He returned the hug immediately and stroked the back of her head. She felt herself shiver at the foreign sensation. Her face pressed into his neck and she could feel his heat on her bare skin, "Thank you Rex."

He held her tightly and smiled to himself. Dagger had trusted him enough to show him her secret, his heart soared at the knowledge. Sure he was shocked that she was a girl, but really he was just happy that she didn't have scars all over her face.

"Anything for you," he said. Stars, she was so beautiful, like an angel out of a dream. She was amazing. He could look at her for hours and he just might do so if given the opportunity.

"Hey, wait a second, did I see you on Coruscant? That night you snuck out to the club?"

She froze and looked up at him, guilty, "Possibly, I don't really remember what happened that night. I was kinda drunk."

He laughed, truly laughed, "Why is it you like getting into trouble so much?"

"Rex?" she asked, ignoring his question, "You can't tell anyone. I told you because you are my Captain, but I'm not ready for everyone to know just yet."

"And here I thought you told me because I am special," he joked.

"You are special to me Rex, that's why I trusted you."

He nodded, "I promise I won't tell anyone. You and your secret will be safe with me," sincerity shone bright in his eyes and Dagger couldn't quite remember why she had doubted him at all.


	46. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am glad everyone seemed to like the reveal. I know it has been a while since I posted that chapter, university has been getting kind of crazy and it is hard to focus on this. I hope you all understand and will stick with the story. Thank you for reading and supporting my story, I really do appreciate every single person who reads my work.

Dagger felt like she was floating up into the clouds. The weight, the anxiety, of hiding from Rex was gone. He hadn't expelled her from the 501st, he didn't even seem to be upset in the slightest. His reaction could only be described as positive. He was supportive and respectful.

Rex understood why she did it, he really did. He would help her keep this secret too. He would protect this treasured knowledge with his entire being. He would protect her with everything he had.

He lay there on the bed and just stared at the ceiling. Thoughts swirling as the water ran in the refresher. If he was being honest with himself, it was a bit of a shock to know that Dagger wasn't a man.

However, in his professional opinion, it didn't really change anything. She had already proven that she could do her job well, nothing was going to change that. It certainly did nothing to change the way Rex felt about her.

If anything it made his feelings stronger. He had a face to hold in his mind, a face to focus his attention and affections on. A frown made its way onto his face, he had already promised himself he wouldn't make any further moves to get closer with Dagger. Anything that happened had to be initiated by her.

His fists clenched as he recalled what had led to him making that internal promise. Echo. That trooper was as good as dog meat when Rex got back. How could Echo have done that to Dagger? Especially so soon after finding out what she was.

It didn't sit well in Rex's mind. The thought of forcing himself on anyone made him sick. The thought of forcing himself on Dagger made him want to die. He wasn't blind enough to think that Echo didn't feel the same way. He had seen the way that Echo had disregarded his own injuries. He had heard the way that he had talked about what had happened.

A harsh side of Rex said good, Echo deserves that pain. He deserves to know what he did was wrong. He deserves to feel remorse and regret for it. Rex's protective nature was in full force just thinking about Dagger.

Yes, she got into trouble a lot, but most of that didn't seem to be her fault. There had been so many bad things to happen to Dagger over the years and he was saddened to know that he couldn't have done anything to help her because he didn't even know her. During all of her training she had been abused by their creators.

He felt a twinge of satisfaction that her abuser was dead. Rex had been the one to kill her and he was proud of that. It was a silent victory as he would be sent to reconditioning if anyone found out, but it would still be worth it. That long neck could never hurt Dagger or anyone ever again.

Rex didn't know the first thing about cloning. All he knew was that he, like millions of vod, came out of a test tube. He figured it made sense that there would be a mess up somewhere along the lines. Dagger was a female, it had to be a gene thing or like a chromosome thing. Maybe that was what made her unresponsive to the growth serum too.

The reason she was twenty two instead of twelve. That had to be a long time ago, Rex's mind hurt trying to put together a timeline. She was probably as close to a normal human as any of the clones would ever get.

The bed dipped and he was ripped out of his thoughts by the presence next to him. He lifted his head up off the pillow and his breath was once again stolen by seeing Dagger's face. He didn't know if he was expecting to see her face again or not, but he was glad that she trusted him enough to leave it off for the time being.

Her eyes were big, watching him curiously as she climbed into bed. Her hair laid slicked back and darkened from the water. He moved over just a bit to make sure she had all the room she wanted, the bed was big enough to fit at least three so there was no need to crowd each other.

Rex realized he hadn't slept in the same bed as someone for a very long time, and it was possible that Dagger had never done so, "This ok?"

"What?" she asked as she settled onto her stomach under the covers, her head turned towards him, "The bed?"

"Yeah I guess. I don't want you to be uncomfortable or worry," it felt like a stupid question now that he had asked it out loud, but he figured he might as well explain.

She snorted out a laugh, "I think your body would actually go into shock if you ever did anything immoral. You just aren't built that way Rex and I don't think it is possible to be uncomfortable in a bed this soft."

He nodded in agreement and smiled as she slid her dagger under her pillow, sheath and all. His blasters were similarly placed on the nightstand on his side of the bed. He realized that he liked to watch her face, she didn't hide her expressions cause she never had to before.

"So are you comfortable like that? I mean, doesn't it hurt your neck to sleep on your stomach like that?" he had always wondered about that and now seemed as good a time as any to ask.

"Yeah, it's what I'm used to and it doesn't hurt my scars. Now though it is kind of a give and take. Either my new scar on my stomach hurts or my old ones on my back hurt," she explained. She really didn't seem to mind holding his eye contact and that gave Rex just a bit more insight to how she had behaved under the helmet for the past few months.

"So they still hurt?"

She nodded with a tight lipped expression, his heart ached at knowing that she was still in enough pain to cause her to sleep differently. Those had to be some harsh scars, especially if the medical files he had seen were anything to go off of.

"Could I-" wait, he couldn't ask that. He had no right to ask her to see her scars, just because he had no problem showing off his body did not mean that she felt the same way. He had to remember not to ask for things, "Never mind."

She smiled sadly, "I don't know if even Kix looked at them."

"Dagger, I didn't mean to- I was curious but you have already shown me so much today. I'm not even going to ask," he felt bad about even implying that he wanted to see her scars. He did, of course, want to see. There was some morbid curiosity to see just how bad they were, maybe he could plan around certain things, anything to minimize her pain. He had seen the injuries in her file, he wondered if the scars had faded at all.

"It's ok, it doesn't bother me. It's not like I can do anything to change it now. The scars are as much a part of me as the helmet, more so actually," she explained it with a detached calmness. She spoke as if she were talking about something else entirely.

Dagger shifted around and from where she lay on her stomach she pulled up the back of her shirt until the hem rested at her bottom ribs, "You can look Rex."

He sat up a little quicker than he should have, he berated himself for being so curious. He looked down at the exposed patch of skin on Dagger's lower back. The mid tone skin was criss crossed with so many scars. He would be hard pressed to find a patch of skin larger than his palm that was unmarked.

His eyes flickered down to the bed again, he shouldn't be looking at this. His gaze kept drifting back to her, so many scars, it was amazing that she even survived all of that. Rex had seen first hand that pain could send a soldier into shock, the way that they could die from improper treatment, or how easy it would be to get an infection.

Dagger turned her head on the pillow and looked at him. She smiled lightly as she saw him hovering next to her. He looked so hesitant, it was amusing.

She reached out and gently grasped his hand, she guided it to her skin. She shivered slightly as his fingertips made contact with her skin.

His hand was warm, his fingertips light. He traced around the patterns of puckered skin. Some scars were fading to white and some were still red and couldn't be more than a few months old. Deep sadness filled him.

"Can I ask a question?"

She nodded, he took a breath, "When did it happen last?"

"Just before I got sent out. I think the medic on Kamino, Pinch, had something to do with me leaving so quickly. I think the Madam knew I would be leaving soon so she wanted to take out what she could on me. She wanted me to be afraid."

He could see her breath tremble as her back rose and fell, "I don't remember much of it, but I think she almost killed me. The whip cut down to the bone and Ninety-Nine found me on the floor in a pool of my own blood. Pinch put me back together and it felt like just minutes between when I woke up and when I was sent to the Resolute."

She paused, thinking for a moment, "I didn't believe it at first. I was so scared the whole flight that the transport would just turn around and bring me back to Kamino. You and Commander Cody were the first clones I ever met outside of the medics and Ninety-Nine."

Rex nodded, his fingers absently tracing her scars, "Do you remember the first thing you said to me?"

"I don't," he replied quietly, so much had happened since then.

"You asked me if I had a name yet. You never called me by my number, I don't know if you even know it. You didn't see me as just another clone, you didn't know I was a mistake. I know it doesn't really matter to you, but that question mattered to me," she said.

Rex hummed softly, "Of course it matters. It will always matter, you aren't a mistake. You are Dagger and that is what is important."

"You know Jango gave me that name."

"Yeah? Good, I couldn't think of one that would be more fitting for you," Rex said with a small smile. He lightly ran his fingertips up her spine and she shivered slightly.

He remembered that feeling well, "That morning on Coruscant that we found you at that woman's house, the morning you told us about what happened. You asked to see my back. You- you kissed me."

He looked at her face and could see her cheeks flushed bright red. Rex smiled, she looked even more beautiful when she blushed. He pouted as she hid her face in the pillow.

Did he have an impulsive idea? Yes. Was he going to repay the action that had played in his mind many times after it had happened? Also yes. He had felt the phantom sensation of her kissing his back in so many dreams. Those dreams had been so real he had woken up expecting to see someone beside him in his bunk.

Rex shuffled down the bed and planted his hands on either side of her narrow frame. Starting above the top of her pants he pressed his lips into her skin. Tracing her spine he kissed over her scars and unmarred skin alike with soft touches of his mouth.

Dagger sucked in a quick breath. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday. She could still feel his warm, smooth skin on her lips, still feel her heart pounding for taking off her helmet.

Her brain might as well have short circuited feeling him do the same thing to her. Rex took his time, barely moving at such a slow pace up her spine. She wanted to cry at the tenderness of his touch. He was so gentle, she wasn't used to this. Not to mention that no one had ever touched her back without the intention to hurt her. Rex would never hurt her, in that moment she was sure of that fact as if it were as certain as the universe was wide.

An eternity later, his path led him to the barrier of her shirt. He did not push it any higher, he did not move any further. Instead he pulled the shirt down, covering the scars. She relaxed slightly as her back was once again covered. Something about being exposed put her on edge even though she knew she was safe.  
Dagger only pulled her head out from where she had hidden it in the pillow once he had moved back over to his side of the bed. He settled himself under the covers on his side. He propped his head up with his hand, his face was unreadable to her. She couldn't pinpoint what he was thinking, she didn't know what his expression meant.

"She won't hurt you again, no one will. I swear to you that I will protect you," he said.

She knew he was serious but she couldn't help her smile, "Rex, you know you can't promise that. We are soldiers, we don't get to stay safe. Being hurt is just part of our life and there is nothing we can do about it."

He looked down, she was right but that didn't mean he had to like it. She continued, "I know you will do your best, but please don't blame yourself when I get hurt. You know better than I do that sometimes you just can't keep people safe."

He nodded and laid his head down on his pillow, legs curling up slightly, "I won't let you down."

"You never do," she said. The lights were turned off and the night stretched with the quiet hum of the ship filling the silence. There was comfort between them and both soldiers drifted off into sleep.

~B~

She slid her helmet back on as soon as she was dressed in her uniform. The familiar weight of it comforted her. It was her shield from the world, with her helmet she felt protected. She emerged from the 'fresher as Rex was clipping on his kama. He smiled at her and she gave him a small nod.

They were to meet in the hall with the others to begin the day. Another day where she had to keep her secret. The weight of it seemed to be even heavier than usual. The alleviation of telling one more person made the burden that much more to hide from the rest of her vod.

Rex mirrored Dagger and slid his helmet on. They locked gazes through their visors, "Nothing has to be different. I swear I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you."

Dagger followed Rex out into the hallway. Kix and Jesse were leaned against the wall next to each other with their shoulders touching. Something was not right.

Since when did Jesse have a medic pauldron? While she was trying to figure out what had happened Rex let out a loud sigh, "Did y'all even check your uniforms before you came out?"

Jesse and Kix snapped their heads to the side to look at each other. Jesse let out a laugh and Kix smacked him in the chest plate with the back of his hand, "Di'kuit! You took my helmet!"

They both lifted off their helmets. That was an odd sight to see Kix's face come out of Jesse's helmet. The medic was red with embarrassment and Jesse wore a self satisfied smirk as he took his own helmet back.

Before Dagger could even open her mouth to speak she was interrupted by a shriek from the room in the middle. The four troopers all looked at each other in confusion.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"That has to be Fives," Rex commented as they heard an ungodly screech that could only be from Cricket.

Rex moved forward with no real urgency and opened the door. The durasteel slid open to reveal a scene that made no sense. Kix put his hand up to cover Jesse's visor, Rex barked out a laugh, and Dagger just stood with a slack jaw at the scene in front of her.

Cricket was pinned to the bed, arms scrambling up to claw at Fives'. The ARC was straddling him in nothing but his boxers and effectively choking the life out of him.

Fives as covered, absolutely covered, in marker drawings. It looked like a youngling had been unleashed on him in the middle of the night. There was nothing on his face so it was easy to see just how red it was.

"You kriffing Di'kuit! What is wrong with you?" He jerked Cricket up and down off the bed, his head lolled with the motion.

Cricket looked at Rex with pleasing eyes, choking out some fashion of a plea for help. Rex sauntered up like an exhausted dad and wrapped his arms around Fives' chest. The action effectively pinned his arms and he lifted him off of Cricket. The trooper gasped for air as his throat was finally released.

He grinned at his own antics and Rex deposited Fives facing the wall and away from Cricket. The trouble maker called out, "Hey nice tats, Fives they new?"

The Arc trooper whirled around and Cricket screeched and ran out the door. Rex grabbed Fives again, "I will put you in a headlock until you pass out."

Fives continued to glare, but stopped trying to run after the man who was hiding behind Dagger. Rex shoved him towards his bag and told him to get dressed.

With his back turned Dagger let out a little laugh again. There was a sprawling drawing on his back. It looked like a big family tree and it had every single name of everyone in Torrent company. All of the names were in a different font. Cricket had written Rex in big box letters, Echo's had stripes in his name, Dagger's was in cursive. It was oddly sweet even though all of the markings had been put on Fives in his sleep.

He tugged on his blacks while he grumbled to himself. After he was done Rex called back Cricket and held out his hand. The trooper reluctantly handed over the marker.

The Captain examined it to make sure it was in fact washable. Once satisfied he handed the marker to Fives and took Cricket's helmet himself. Fives let a wide smile spread on his face. Instant pay back was always nice.

Cricket pouted as Fives wrote on his forehead. He let out a chuckle and spun Cricket around by the shoulder to present his work to the others.

Dagger face palmed her helmet, he had just written "Di'kuit" on his forehead. She honestly doubted the intelligence of some of them at times. This was one of these times. Fives seemed to be satisfied and didn't want any further revenge for the prank. Rex took back the marker and shook his head like a disappointed dad, which is basically what he was.

The Arc looked between Dagger and Rex, "Good night sleep for everyone?"

"Captain Rex?" right on cue. That was General Skywalker coming down the hall to collect them for the day.

The jedi paused when he saw Cricket, "Is this something I should be worried about?"

"No sir," Rex responded, he elbowed the man, "Put your helmet on. You should know better than to prank Fives."

"So, I just wanted to let you boys know that we will be arriving on Naboo in about two hours. The protection detail will be heading out with the Duchess and the security detail will be meeting up with the other details from the other units. We are going to get some breakfast in the kitchens before you head out. Leave all your bags in Rex's room, someone is going to come get them and bring them to where you will be staying tonight."

"Uh General," Dagger interrupted with a raised hand, "Where are we going to be staying tonight?"

"The palace has plenty of rooms, even with the meeting going on there are still rooms for you to stay in. However, whoever is on the protection detail is going to be in the room that is attached to the Duchess's quarters. That pair is going to have to spend a few nights with the Mandalorian Guards."

"Thank you General," Dagger responded, she didn't know how she felt being around strangers but it wasn't like she would be able to do anything about it anyway.

The detail of six soldiers followed their General to the kitchen and they all got breakfast. Right next to the kitchen there was a small mess hall. Everyone sat at the same table and got to talk during breakfast.  
Dagger sat next to Rex, since everyone was mostly eating she was the one to carry the conversation. She was about to jump into another story when Anakin, who was sitting across from her, spoke up, "So you still don't take off the helmet? Even to eat?"

"No sir," she replied slowly. She didn't know if the Jedi was testing her or anything. Rex glanced at Dagger from the corner of his eye, a forkful of food stopped halfway to his mouth.

"Uh General, on the Resolute Dagger goes to eat in my office. There really isn't a place like that here," Rex tried to explain.

"I had a ration bar before we left the room sir," Dagger said easily with a shrug of her shoulders.

Rex looked down at his own food. He knew for a fact that Dagger hadn't done so, the lie had rolled off her tongue so easily. Almost in the exact same way that she said that her scars didn't bother her last night. He hadn't ever heard the tone before, but now that he saw it from the outside he knew exactly what it was.

The forced casualness of her tone, she was lying to the General about her well being. As if she thought she had something to prove, an appearance to keep up. Rex didn't say a word, but he was glad to see that Skywalker looked sceptical as he was.

"Mhm, sure. How about you go grab a plate anyway? You can eat in the next room over, it should be empty and has a lock," he said easily.

Dagger looked at Rex and he nodded. Why she thought she needed permission was unknown to him. She stood and left, leaving the table a lot quieter than it had been. Rex looked down at his food, staring blankly as he realized what had just happened.

"Captain?" Fives asked, "You ok?"

"I- I'm fine," ah, he understood now. He lied just as Dagger had. It wasn't malicious, just to keep others from worrying about him.

The rest of breakfast passed quietly, Rex watched as Dagger returned and sat back next to him. He leaned in and asked quietly, "Do you lie like that often?"

Dagger stiffened up, she realized she had been caught. Her head remained determinedly faced forward, "No."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I didn't want him to order me to take off the helmet."

Rex hummed in understanding. Dagger leaned towards him, "I don't lie to you Rex, not about important things. I promise."

"I know."


	47. Chapter 47

The ship docked at a station orbiting Naboo. Fives took his crew aboard the landing ship and they all waved goodbye as the doors closed. For now the security detail had to go and check the palace and rooms. They would be meeting up with other details to plan for security with the scheduled events.

Rex and Dagger stayed behind with the General and Commander. They waited in the hangar for the ship to return. Soon enough, the Dutchess walked in with her personal guards. She conversed lightly with Captain Keb, but as she approached she looked at the jedi and soldiers.

"General Skywalker, will you be joining us during the conference? Or do you have other duties?"

"Unfortunately, I will be busy, but I assure you that Captain Rex and Dagger will keep you safe. They are some of the best," he replied.

"Thank you General Skywalker," she replied.

With quick salutes to their General, Rex and Dagger fell into the back of the preexisting group of guards. Their white armor stood out significantly against the blue of the Mandalorians' armor. Dagger's chest was puffed just a little at the praise from their General. If Rex saw it, he chose not to say anything.

Dagger ended up next to one of them at the back, a tall man with blue eyes. Through their helmets it was hard to discern anything other than eye color, which did little to help identify them. There were no markings on their armor to tell them apart. The man nudged her and she stepped out of the way looking at him sharply.

He laughed, "You the one Keb told us about? The one with the Kotep'an blade?"

Dagger's hand drifted down to rest on the hilt of that dagger, "What of it?"

"Nothin'. I'm Tenro. What is your name?"

"Dagger," she replied and gestured to her right, "This is Captain Rex."

Tenro laughed again, "Do you all have weird names? I mean really what kind of a name is Dagger and Rex? What are you a dinosaur?"

Both soldiers reeled back at the comment. Rex was still trying to figure out if he had been insulted or not when Dagger started up, "Excuse me?! What is your problem?! At least we got to pick our names, not like you nat borns that get them assigned at birth like its your number. What does your name even have to do with you?"

The man was openly laughing at her now and it made her blood boil as she continued. Her voice spiked up into a yell, "You didn't even earn it, your name is just your label, not who you are. You don't have any place to be saying our names are weird, at least ours aren't some abstract syllables put together."

Dagger was huffing in anger, "And another thing!"

She went to lunge forward with her fist raised. Rex sprung forward and wrapped an arm around Dagger's waist to hold her back from punching the man, "Whoa whoa, easy now."

Dagger struggled to get free but Rex just held her tightly, "No fighting soldier."

She deflated at the order, "I'm not wrong, Rex. He's got no right to talk to us like that."

Tenro let out another laugh, "Did I hit a nerve little clone?"

"Tenro!" the name was barked out and he looked over, Captain Keb was standing over the man glaring harshly, "What do you think you are doing?"

"I was just asking why the clones had weird names and the little one got offended by it," he said.

Keb looked at Rex, who was still holding Dagger, and then back to Tenro, "Apologize."

Tenro sputtered in indignation, "For what?"

"For being an asshole, they are here to help us and the first thing you do is insult them. Now apologize," Keb was practically growling at the guard now.

Tenro knew better than to fight with his captain and turned to the soldiers, "I'm sorry."

Dagger snarled at him, it was obvious that he didn't mean his apology. Rex just tightened his grip and spoke through the helmet comms, "Calm down, calm down!"

"Rex you can't let them talk about you like that! Those are our names!"

"Yeah and he apologized, so calm down."

"You know he didn't mean it!" She protested.

"It doesn't matter. We aren't here to be liked, we are here to do our mission."

She pouted under her helmet but nodded and Rex slowly released her. He nudged her shoulder lightly. Finally, he spoke outside of the helmet comms, "What did I say about trouble huh?"

Tenro had been sent to the front of the group, farthest away from the soldiers. The guard Captain spoke to them, "I'm sorry about Tenro, he doesn't like outsiders. I'll keep a better eye on him from now on."

Rex nodded and Keb continued, "Anyone else gives you trouble let me know right away. It wouldn't do for us to be fighting when there are bigger things to worry about."

~B~

Dagger was actually going to claw her eyeballs out through her helmet. They had been in this meeting hall for hours. She was so bored and she wanted to do anything other than just stand here and scan the room. The Captains both stood behind the Dutchess' chair at the head of the table.

As the ruler of a neutral world she had been chosen as a moderator. The two guards behind Satine were the closest to her in case anything happened. The rest of the guard, and Dagger, were spread around the room. Their main job was to protect the Duchess, but should anything else go wrong they were to help in all ways that they could.

Rex had given her strict orders to not get into trouble, and she wasn't allowed to talk over the internal comms either. So she just had to stand there and be bored out of her mind.

She hadn't dared to talk to the Mandalorian Guard who had been placed with her. All of them stood in pairs and after her earlier conversation with Tenroh she was hesitant to talk to this new stranger. She didn't think that all Mandalorians were bad, Jango was proof of that, but these guards had a fifty fifty impression so far.

So, Dagger kept her mouth shut. The senators and representatives did enough gabbing for her anyway. She rolled her eyes as they called yet another recess. She had learned that "recess" was just code for stand up and talk more for twenty minutes or until it was time to sit and talk again.

"Just for the record, I think Dagger is a really cool name," the guard next to her spoke quietly. His voice was light, he seemed to be a similar age to Dagger.

She looked over and up at him, he still faced mostly forward, but she could see him looking at her through the open visor of his helmet. She tilted her helmet at him in question.

"Tenroh is an ass, don't listen to what he says. Dagger is an awesome name, Rex too," he commented.

"Thank you," she said, that was oddly nice of him, "And what is your name?"

"More of those random syllables you were shouting about earlier, my name is Miaan," he said with a slight chuckle.

"You know I wasn't yelling at you, right?" she asked, worried that she had offended someone other than Tenroh. She had fully meant to insult him, but no one else.

"Heh, I know. Like I said Tenroh is an ass and it was about time someone stood up to his insults. I'm just sorry he had to take out his temper on you guys," Miaan explained, "Y'all clones don't get enough credit in my opinion. Hard job you guys have."

Dagger cringed slightly at being called a clone. It was true, but it still felt like an insult, like that was all anyone thought that they were. Miaan analyzed her silence, "Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head, "No, everything you said was right."

He saw Dagger's helmet tilt down as she analyzed the very interesting white floor. Miaan was never known for just letting things go, "Hey, I don't wanna be one of the ones to insult you boys. Was it the clone thing? I'm sorry if I offended you, I've never really talked to one of you before, I don't know the rules."

Dagger looked back up, "We aren't just clones you know? We are people just like you, we are soldiers and individuals. I mean you aren't wrong when you say clones it just- it just feels like that's all people see us as. Another piece of a matching set."

"I'm sorry Dagger, it won't happen again," she saw in his eyes that he meant that apology, unlike Tenroh's earlier. Maybe all the Mandos weren't so bad afterall.

~B~

All of the attending senators ate dinner in their private quarters. Quarters was really an understatement. The room was as big as an apartment, it had multiple bedrooms and separate quarters within it. Satine insisted that the guard all eat with her, it had been a long day afterall.

Dagger's heart fell as everyone gathered in the dining room to eat together. Rex made no move to go towards the plates prepared for him and Dagger. Almost everyone had been seated when he spoke up, "Dagger and I will guard outside. If you need us just comm."

Duchess Satine started to protest but the soldiers in white had already turned to make their way out of the door. They posted up on either side of the entrance to the quarters. Dagger relaxed slightly as the door closed and her and Rex stood alone in the empty hallway.

"Rex you should really eat, I can wait till later," Dagger started.

"And so can I," he replied like it was the easiest thing in the world, she could tell he was smiling behind his helmet, "I can't forget if you've eaten or not if I eat with you. We'll find time later."

"I'm sorry I make everything difficult."

Rex just shrugged, "It's just food Dagger, and if it helps you feel safe I really don't mind."

She nodded, "It really helps that you know now."

"Thank you for trusting me. I know that took a lot to be able to show me your face," he said.

They talked quietly for a while, the faint noise of conversation coming from inside the quarters. The guardsmen and the Duchess all chatted as friends, it made Dagger wish that their vod were there.

"Have you heard from Fives or the others today?" She asked.

Rex nodded, "He checked in a little while ago. They had been planning for the ball for most of the day. There has been no sign of any hostilities so far. Also it would seem that Cricket is taking a page out of your book and not taking his helmet off at all."

Dagger snickered and Rex continued, "He and or Fives should actually be here in a few minutes to give us a more in depth report."

"Any idea why he thought it was a good idea to give Fives a bunch of temporary tattoos?"

"I think it is too bold to assume Cricket thought about it at all before acting. He isn't necessarily known for his great planning skills."

The door between them opened and the soldiers turned to see Captain Keb step through the threshold, "The Duchess has requested that you join her, I'm sending out Miaan and Keeto to take your post."

They nodded and ducked into the room. The guards were finally up and moving around with different tasks. Dagger and Miaan exchanged a nod as they passed each other. Satine was still sitting at the head of the table and two plates of food sat at the seats on either side of her.

"Please sit," she said, gesturing to the chairs.

Rex sat on her left and Dagger on her right, neither made a move towards the food in front of them. Dagger pointedly ignored the grumbling in her stomach. Satine leaned forward and rested her chin on her folded hands, "I heard that one of my guardsmen was giving you a hard time today. I just wanted to apologize to you both. I am very grateful to you all for coming here to help protect me and the others at this conference."

"We are just doing our duty ma'am," Rex responded.

"Dagger, I know that you do not wish to take your helmet off around others. Is there anything I can do to make sure you get time to eat? I can't have one of my guards passing out from not eating."

"I'll be fine ma'am," she started, Rex gave her a pointed glare through his helmet and she continued, "But if we could have a minute or two in a private room we could eat in there."

"Of course. There is a small dining room at the back of the suite, you both can bring your food in there. You have my word that no one will bother you," Satine replied.

"Thank you ma'am," Dagger replied. She and Rex stood in unison, they grabbed their plates and made their way to the back room.

Once inside they took in the single table in the middle of the small room. When the Duchess said it was a small room, she wasn't kidding. Dagger sat at one seat and Rex took the only other seat, which was across from her.

Dagger tried to act natural but her heart still raced as she pulled her helmet off. Rex mirrored her and couldn't help but glance at Dagger's exposed face. Just the same as this morning, she was gorgeous. They both ate quickly, no need to waste time.

"Make any new friends?" Rex teased.

She smiled, "I didn't start any more fights if that's what you are wondering."

They ate in silence after that so they heard when there was a knock to the main door. A familiar voice greeted the Duchess and guardsmen. That must be Cricket coming to check in. They finished up quickly and put their helmets back on.

Cricket was in the middle of a circle of some guards who seemed to be all joking around. One of them laughed heartily at one of his jokes and smacked him on the back. Cricket stumbled forward and somehow his helmet got knocked off. He caught it in his hands and straightened back up with a wide grin on his face.

All of the guards burst into even more laughter as they saw the smudged writing on his forehead. Rex just shook his head, "Put your helmet back on idiot, let's go."

Dagger and Cricket followed their captain out into the hallway and back to where all of the GAR soldiers were meeting. As they got closer to their meeting hall Dagger started to see more and more familiar armor. It was calming to see familiar helmets, vod surrounded them.

The triangle of 501st troopers cut through the crowd to get to the table the rest of their men were standing at, discussing strategies together. They had made it almost all the way to the table when a hand fell on Dagger's shoulder. She paused and turned her head to see who it was.

She spotted the flash of grey armor and turned fully around. Wolffe's grin was infectious and she found herself straightening up in excitement at seeing him again, "Commander Wolffe!"

"Looks like someone's got some new ink," he mentioned as he gestured to her helmet, "How is it goin' kid? Staying out of trouble?"

"Well," she stuttered, Dagger rubbed the back of her neck. How did one even answer that question. It turned out that she didn't have to as Rex chose that moment to make his presence known.

"Not unless you count getting seriously injured staying out of trouble," Rex commented.

Dagger chuckled nervously. Wolffe full on laughed, "Still up and kicking though so it couldn't have been that bad."

"I mean I only flatlined once," Dagger mumbled. Rex groaned at the casual reminder of one of the worst days of his life and Wolffe choked briefly at the new information.

"Now we know you don't die easy. Glad you are ok, Little Loth Wolf," the Commander petted her helmet fondly and gave her head a small jostle.

"Good to see you too Commander," she said in parting as she followed Rex.

The meeting was called to a start and Dagger was surprised to see Commander Cody was here as well. He was in fact the one heading up the meeting. He stood at the head of the holotable, helmet tucked under his arm as the other gestured to images projected over the holotable.

"As you know, tomorrow night there will be a fundraising ball with all of the senators and dignitaries. It will be held here," he pointed to an extensive courtyard in the center of the palace, "If there is going to be any attack during this conference it will most likely take place here when all of the senators are together and busy."

Dagger nodded along as he laid out the specifics, "Snipers will be placed here, here, and here. Boost, Dagger, and Waxer you will need to be in position by nineteen hundred tomorrow night. For all of the leaders of the details, Rex, Wolffe, and Bly, you will be personally escorting your assigned dignitaries. Everyone else will either be posted security or roaming security."

Everyone was taking mental notes and nodded in understanding, "Any questions?"

No one spoke up, "Alright, the details on who is posted and who is roaming will be sent out to your commanders later tonight. You are dismissed."

The meeting broke up into groups of troopers headed for the doors. Rex had a short talk with the members of Torrent before he released them back to their rooms. He saw how Dagger's helmet kept tilting back to Commander Cody who was still hunched over the holotable.

Rex nodded to her, "Go on, I'm sure he'd like to say hi to you too."

Dagger bounced slightly, today was turning into a big social gathering for the soldiers as well as the senators. She hadn't seen this many units together and it was nice to see everyone again.

"Commander Cody," she called with a hand raised in greeting as she approached.

The yellow clad soldier looked up and smiled, "Dagger! I haven't seen you in a while."

He opened his arms to her and she readily stepped into his embrace. He gave her a friendly pat on the back before releasing her, "I would ask how you have been, but last I heard you had gotten yourself arrested on Coruscant."

Dagger let out a low whistle, "Commander that was like four big events ago, you gotta keep up with the gossip better."

He laughed, "Silly me for assuming that being arrested was the most eventful thing that happened to you since I've been away. You and the Torrent boys are going to make Rex go grey. Really? Four? What could I have possibly missed?"

"Uhhhhh, how much time do you have?" she asked.

"Abbreviated version kid," Cody replied, "As much as I would love to stay and talk all night I have a lot more things I need to do before I could even consider doing that."

Dagger counted on her fingers, "One, got blasted on the last mission and flatlined, I'm ok now. Two, Echo was a jerk, but we got that figured. Three, I took off my helmet in front of Rex and showed him my back. Four, I now have a last name."

Cody nodded, fingers running under his jaw, absorbing the information, "Thank you for not being dead then. Also, I'm proud of you for showing Rex your face, that takes guts kid. Though I'm not sure what the back thing means but good on that one too. And last name?"

"Oh! You were already gone for that one too, sorry Commander. Rex had gone to Kamino to arrest the Kaminoan that trained me because she hurt me and scarred my back during training. For the last name, I got a new dagger and it is a Mandalorian heritage blade of a family who was all killed and now I have their last name to carry on their legacy."

Cody reeled back slightly at the information dump, what did he even comment on first? He blinked, "I feel like when I said I wanted the abbreviated version I did not think that many significant things would have happened. Are you ok?"

Dagger nodded enthusiastically, completely missing what Cody was asking about and Rex just pinched the bridge of his nose behind her, "Wanna see my new dagger?"

Cody nodded and she pulled it out of her thigh sheath and held the handle out to him for him to take. He grasped it gently, "Whoa, this is beautiful."

"Thank you."

Rex cleared his throat and gave Dagger a hard look, they really needed to be getting back. Cody saw the look and handed the dagger back, "It's more fitting than your old one anyway. Stay safe this time Dagger, I'll see you tomorrow, now get out of here before Rex drags you out."

"Goodnight Commander."

"Goodnight Dagger, goodnight Rex."

"Yeah yeah, all of those pleasantries. See you soon Codes."

~B~

Once Rex and Dagger arrived back at the Duchess' suite the guards and soldiers made their way into the room adjoined to the master bedroom. The additional room was just as big, if not bigger, and had many more beds. It reminded Dagger of the barracks on the Resolute. The barracks, however, would not have been filled with strangers as this room was. She would have been surrounded by her vod, not just with Rex.

As everyone filed into the room the Mandalorians selected bunks when they came across an empty one. By the time the Republic soldiers, who were at the back of the group, entered the only open beds were along the back wall. A pair of beds just across from each other.

Dagger flopped down on her stomach on the bed against the wall and Rex sat on the other one. The Captain took off his helmet and ran his hand over his face to scrub some sensation back into the skin after wearing the helmet for so long.

He grinned at Dagger as she laid face down in full armor. She let out a groan of satisfaction, "They sure got some comfy beds here Captain."

He snorted and began to take off his armor. He agreed with her and looked around to see the Mandalorian guards also shedding off their armor. He didn't see Dagger make any motion to take off her armor as well. She either didn't notice or just didn't care to copy.

Rex was distracted with his armor and watching Dagger when Captain Keb approached the pair, "You boys ok here?"

"Yes sir," Rex replied.

Keb nodded and seemed to do a double take at seeing Dagger laying face down, "Even that one?"

Dagger gave him a thumbs up, not bothering with a response or even to look at the man. Rex chuckled, "Nothing out of the ordinary, sir."

Keb nodded and walked back to his bunk in the center of the room he shook his head at their antics. He had learned after this morning to not comment on the oddities of GAR soldiers. The little one, Dagger, had almost chewed Tenroh's head off for saying that their names were weird. Tenroh was an asshole, sure, but Dagger seemed to be on a hair pin trigger of a temper on certain topics.

If he wanted to sleep in his armor he could do so, but Keb still thought it was a bit strange. He shrugged his shoulders and sat on the edge of his bunk. He scrolled through his data pad, checking off everything that had been completed today. He was halfway through looking over the itinerary for tomorrow when he felt his bed shift as someone sat next to him.

He looked up to see that Miaan had sat down. He clicked off the datapad and asked, "What's up?"

"Hey Captain, I was wondering if we could work with the GAR boys more. They are super cool, especially the little one. Can we do more jobs with them?"

Keb laughed, "Made a friend did you? It's not up to me who we work with and honestly I think it was just luck of the draw that these two got assigned to work personally with us."

Miaan's shoulders slumped, "But they are staying for the rest of the conference at least right?"

"Yes Miaan, we still have a few days to work with the GAR boys. How do you feel like today went? Anything unusual happen," Keb asked. He had already gotten a briefing from everyone, but he knew that Miaan liked to talk about the day in a more unofficial capacity.

"I actually learned something today Captain, did you know that they don't like to be called clones?"

"But they are clones?"

"Yeah, but that isn't all they are. Like the name thing, Dagger was telling me about it earlier. It's part of their identity to be someone, to have a chosen name. They are soldiers and even though they are clones they would rather be seen as individuals."

Keb nodded, "That makes sense."

"So Dagger is the one who has the Kotep'an blade?" Miaan asked.

"Yeah," Keb answered. Miaan looked at him, waiting for more explanation, "I was new to the guard when the last owner of it left for his final mission. We didn't know it was his last mission at the time, it was never supposed to be. Captain Kotep'an was one of the best men I have ever met. That was a long time ago now, probably about eighteen years ago by now," Keb recalled.

Miaan nodded along to his words, "And he didn't have any family?"

"He did," Keb said sadly, "His wife died in childbirth, that was before I knew him. He had a kid too, I'm not really sure what happened to that little one. If Dagger has the blade then you can probably fill in the blanks just as well as I can."

"Damn that sucks. A whole bloodline just wiped out just like that? No one left?"

Captain Keb shook his head, "No bloodline left, but maybe a legacy. Dagger seems like a good soldier, he will do his best to carry the honor of the Kotep'ans with him."

Miaan nodded, "I don't mean to discredit him, but shouldn't the blade be held by a Mandalorian?"

"Dagger is a Mandalorian, they all are. Those soldiers are mandokarla. They didn't ask to fight in their war, but they do so with honor. I think Dagger can do it, he will make the Kotep'ans proud."

"No argument from me boss."


	48. Chapter 48

_Silence, there was so much silence. It was unnerving. Dagger kneeled on the matted floor of her training room. She had done this so many times before and was waiting for it to happen again. She waited and waited, her ears strained against the silence of the room._

_It was stifling, she couldn't hear anything. There was nothing to be heard and yet she knew that she wasn't alone. Her spine tingled with the sensation of being watched. Someone was with her. She could only assume that it was the Madam, she would punish Dagger yet again for some mistake that she had made. Something so small and insignificant that Dagger had forgotten about it._

_With every second that passed her anxiety rose. She could feel the sweat run little paths down her temples, dampening the hair. She was there, behind her, watching her. She was waiting for Dagger to do something to make it worse, give her more reason to hurt her._

_Dagger clenched her fists, resisting the urge to turn around. She couldn't turn, she wouldn't turn. No matter how much she wanted to._

_She felt her spine stiffen as she flinched at the singular footfall behind her. Not the sound that the Madam's feet usually made. A bootstep._

_Dagger forgot her resolve and whipped around to look at the being behind her. It wasn't the Madam. It was a Mandalorian. Had Jango gotten new armor?_

" _Jango?" she asked, startled at his appearance._

" _No," his voice was low and had a certain edge to it._

" _Who are you?" she shot to her feet and drew her dagger from the holster in her thigh. The familiar grip was now foreign to her. The GAR issued blade that was no longer her weapon of choice and yet here is was in her hand._

_Her head whipped up to look the armored man in the vizor. He lifted a dagger in response, her dagger. He held it expertly, she knew he could hurt her if she let him close_

" _I'm coming for you," he growled._

_Pure terror raced through her veins. A cold rush of adrenaline that set all of her nerves on red alert. He lunged and she tried to scream. She tried to dodge, she tried to defend herself. She tried to do so many things. She couldn't move and he got closer and closer. He was right in front of her when everything went black._

~B~

Rex had been sleeping peacefully, until a sharp whimper snapped him out of it. He was awake in an instant, sitting up quickly. His body was tuned to wake up at the slightest sound or feeling of danger. A cry in the night filled that classification.

It only took him a fraction of a second to realize that he was not in his bunk, but in a bed in a different type of barracks. It took him another second to realize that the noise was coming from the person in the bed next to him. It was Dagger.

She was sitting up in her bunk, he could see her chest heaving from labored breaths. The sound was ragged and uncontrolled in the quiet of the room. A nightmare. He threw off the covers and tip toed closer to the soldier, kneeling on the bunk in front of her.

"Dagger," he called softly. No response, either her eyes were closed or she was staring out and unable to see him.

He tried again, this time putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Dagger wake up."

She jerked as soon as he touched her and one reached under her pillow. There was no doubt in Rex's mind that she was grasping her weapon tightly under her pillow. He was glad, however, that she did not brandish it towards him.

It was too early to get into a fight with a combative soldier who had just woken up from a nightmare. Rex remembered all too well what had happened when he woke Hardcase up from a nightmare that one time. He had a black eye for a few days after that.

"You're safe Dagger, safe. It was just a nightmare," he said, he could feel her trembling beneath his hand. Must have been quite a dream.

"Rex," she panted, relieved to see his familiar face.

He nodded reassuringly up at her. He still kneeled on the floor as she sat up fully. He rested a hand on the top of her thigh, thumb rubbing soothing circles over it.

Dagger rolled her shoulders to relieve the tension which started to fade. She took a deep breath and slid off the bed. She landed on the floor without a sound.

He looked after her in concern, "Are you ok? That seemed like a pretty rough nightmare."

"I'm fine," she replied quietly. She started to walk away.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes, it was two in the morning. Wakeup call was at eight.

"I'm getting ready," she said it like it was obvious, but Rex could see the exhaustion in her form. Her back was tight and her shoulders drooped so low that he could practically see the weight on them.

"Get back here. You are not keeping me or anyone else up at this hour, you are going back to sleep."

She pouted but turned around, always following orders even if they were not expressly stated. Dagger shuffled her feet as she made her way back to her bed. Rex settled back down on his own bunk and closed his eyes with a sigh. Stubborn troopers.

Dagger mirrored him and laid on her side. She could tell the moment Rex passed back out by the way his breathing lightened. His face was slack and she felt herself slowly start to calm down from the fight or flight response of the nightmare. She watched his face for a long time.

It was relaxing to see him at peace. She matched her breathing with his, the slow rise and fall of his chest. Watching him sleep she felt a deep longing in her own chest.

She wanted to hold him, she wanted to kiss him, she wanted so many things that she couldn't have. She knew that she could physically get up and touch him right now, but she was hesitant. Who even knew how many boundaries that would be crossing?

Dagger already couldn't believe how lucky she had gotten with his reaction the other day. She wouldn't push her luck any further and ask for anything more than what she was given. He hadn't been angry, he didn't mind what she was. He hadn't treated her any different because of it. He had always been protective of all of their vod. If she were to bet he was acting protective because of her injuries more than the fact that she was female.

In her hazy mind, she remembered the way that he had kissed her back. His intentions clear in the way that he hadn't touched her with anything other than his lips. He hadn't wanted anything more than what he had. He had been so gentle she could barely comprehend it. The memory was a pleasant one, it calmed her enough to be able to recall a kind touch of someone she cared about.

She eventually drifted off to sleep again with the phantom sensations of his lips on her back. She didn't wake again until morning.

~B~

"So you all are exactly alike," Miaan asked.

"Yes," Dagger answered in monotone.

"So you are all brothers?"

"Yes."

"But you don't take off your helmet?"

"No."

He looked at her through squinted eyes, "But you look the same. Why?"

"Personal reasons."

"Like what?" he pressed.

Dagger rolled her eyes, she almost wished that she could go back to how they were for the most part of the previous day. Back to when she and Miaan had just stood next to each other and not talked.

Dagger bit her tongue to keep from grumbling as she heard Miaan take in a deeper breath of air, obviously about to ask another question, "You get to travel all over the galaxy to go fight in really cool battles right?"

"Cool battles?" Dagger asked.

"Yeah like you get to fight a whole bunch of droids and blow stuff up with your ships and stuff. We don't get to do anything like that, always just following the Duchess around to protect her."

"Get to?" she asked, stunned by the comment, "You do realize that we don't have a choice right?"

"What?"

She just looked at him and he asked, "So you don't get to pick what job you want or where you go?"

"I don't think you understand the whole part of where we were created for this war and not anything else."

"Oh," his hand came up to rub the back of his neck, "I'm sorry."

She made a noncommittal sound, "It's ok. I guess it is pretty fun getting to shoot a bunch of droids. There are plenty of worse jobs in the galaxy. I wouldn't want to be anything other than a soldier anyway so it works out fine."

"Have you ever been shot?"

"No," she replied honestly. Her lips snuck up in a hidden smirk.

"I got shot once, right in the shoulder," Miaan said.

She let out a little laugh, "I was in an explosion."

He broke his stance of watching the gathering to gawk at her, "You what?"

She just chuckled and nodded. He shook his head, "Damn, I guess that's pretty badass."

~B~

Dagger laid out on top of the roof of the Naboo palace. She was hidden in the shadows created by the warm glow of lights from below. She had a thin mat underneath her as she set up the sniper rifle she had been issued.

Just as she was finishing up with her rifle she heard a bag drop next to her. She looked up to see familiar armor. A brother with grey armor, she couldn't tell exactly who it was by the markings, but she gave him a polite nod as he unrolled his own mat and laid it next to her.

"Hey! Is that you little loth wolf?" he asked. He pulled off his helmet to reveal a familiar face.

"Boost?" she asked with excitement.

He let out a little chuckle before settling down next to her and pulling his own rifle out of a case he had been carrying. Unlike the bag he had thrown down, this case was set down with care.

"Commander said he had seen you last night. Came back real excited to the barracks talking about how you were here," he explained.

"Awww, big brother was excited to see me?"

He laughed, "I think we all were excited to hear about your adventures since Coruscant. The Wolffe Pack has been a bit low on excitement since we were on leave."

"Ryloth was fun, I guess. But it really hasn't been that long since I have seen you boys," she replied, scanning the gathering crowd below through the scope of her rifle.

Boost settled into position on her left, but gave her a hard look, "Commander Wolffe said you got yourself blown up."

She let out a hum of agreement, "He also said that you died."

Dagger huffed, "Only once, and I'm fine now."

"We've all been there kid," he laughed, "Any one who is dumb enough to fight Commander Wolffe is tough enough to survive dying. Besides, who else would I pick on tonight if you weren't here?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you would find someone."

Boost adjusted a few things on his scope and shrugged, "This is easier. These damn conventions are always so boring. Nothing ever happens and we have to listen to all these politicians talk and talk. I mean really how could they possibly have that much to say."

"What I don't get is why they make everything so complicated," Dagger replied.

"I'd drink to that."

"Maybe later, but right now we have a job to do Boost."

He let out a sigh and dropped his head into his arm for a moment. She laughed at his grumbling, but continued to survey the people below. She spotted General Skywalker talking with a Republic Senator by the buffet line. Commander Wolffe was walking just behind the one she recognized as Senator Organa.

She kept looking and scanning for one person in particular. She found him standing at the side of the mass of people in the center of the courtyard. He stood shoulder to shoulder with another man and watched the room intently.

Rex stood next to Captain Keb. He wore his dress uniform, black shoes shined to perfection. A streamlined pair of pants and a sharp dress coat adorned with medals of accomplishment, a blue cord hung from his left shoulder to signify his leadership within the 501st.

Dagger had to admit that the uniform looked amazing. Even from that distance she could see the slight distortion of the jacket where his dual blasters were concealed in shoulder holsters. She raised an appreciative eyebrow at the entire outfit.

She shook her head, she had more important things to do than stare at her Captain. He would not appreciate getting killed because she was not watching for threats.

With one last look she continued her scan. There wasn't much going on aside from all of the people milling around. Making connections and deducing which way everyone was planning on voting at the final meeting tomorrow morning. Fake smiles flashed just as readily as the wealthy jewelry on necks of the politicians.

For the second time that day, Dagger was glad that she was made to be a soldier. It was unlikely that she would have made it as a politician or a diplomat. She was a soldier down to her core and while she might not be the best one in the GAR, it was all she knew how to be. It was simple this way, more so than navigating the battlefield that is a debate amongst the intergalactic senate.

Just as she was about to move her scope to continue to survey the perimeter a flash of metal and not the kind that is made from any jewelry. She trained her sights on the flash, "Boost, I think I have something along the southwest wall."

She heard him shift as he focused on what she was looking at. The barrel of a blaster, shiny and most definitely out of place was being held by someone around the pillar.

"I have eyes on the weapon, not the suspect," he responded.

"Contact Cody immediately, they might not be alone," as she spoke the blaster was lowered. Then to Dagger's dismay something small and round was lobbed into the center of the crowd.

"We're under attack," Boost yelled.

The device let out a loud bang and a flash of light, stunning everyone who was close to it. Above the screams of terrified senators, Dagger lined up the sight on the attacker. As soon as they poked their head out from behind the pillar she pulled the trigger. Not today scumbag.

The being, what species she couldn't tell, fell to the ground and she knew that there was no way they would ever get up again. However, even with the threat eliminated the shrieks from the crowd had not stopped.

Dagger looked around frantically to see what was going on. It was getting harder and harder to see. Why was smoke billowing out of the vents like that?

She called Rex on the comms, "Captain Rex, get out of there right now!"

"Affirmative, taking the Duchess to security point Gamma. If you don't have a clear visual from the roof get down to the main level and find out who is attacking."

"Yes sir!" she answered before turning to Boost, "We gotta go!"

He stood quickly and snatched his rifle off of its stand. Dagger followed suit and nodded as he said, "Let's go get these bastards!"

They raced down the stairs as fast as they could go while still clearing the building. There was no one in the stairwell and Dagger took the time to sling the rifle across her back using the strap on it.

She glanced down at her dagger, her first thought was to pull it out and use it as her primary weapon. Then reason kicked in and she grabbed her blaster, a better weapon to use in the close range of the palace halls. Keeping Boost in her peripheral vision she saw him do the same.

Boost spoke to her through the comm system, it was direct communication and kept their outward noise level low as possible, "Commander says that it is a small group of insurgents."

"Copy that," she poked her head around the corner that led to the left and just as quickly leaned back out of sight, "Uhhhh Boost?"

He was braced against the wall behind her and tilted his helmet down in question, "What did you see?"

Dagger just opened and closed her mouth. That was not a small group of insurgents. It turns out that she didn't even have to say anything as the harsh and rhythmic clanking of metal feet announced the presence of the battalion of droids just fine.

He winced as he realized what that sound was, "How many are there?"

"In that hallway? About thirty B1s and 20 B2s."

Boost let out a groan, "Shit! Commander said it was a team of bounty hunters. Either the hunters are working with the droids or we are being attacked by two separate enemies."

"We can worry about why later, what are we going to do about the droids?"

"I just told Cody where we are. He is sending backup. We have to hold this position, can't let them get to the inner halls of the palace, that's where all the senators are. We are holding a defensive barrier at points Echo and Foxtrot as a last defense. If these tinnies get by us they are going to be walking straight into there."

Dagger nodded and surveyed the short corner, analyzing how far away the droids were. They hadn't been seen yet. If she could be quick enough she could probably get across the hallway into the cove on the other side. She wouldn't have an escape route other than going back the way she came but it would be a better angle on the droids.

"Stay here," she said, grabbing a grenade from her pack.

Boost had no idea where she planned on going, but he nodded his acceptance of her statement. His eyebrow raised in surprise as she darted forward across the corner and towards the little alcove. She lobbed the grenade to her left and dove into the cover.

She tucked herself against the wall as the grenade detonated in a fiery blast. The B1s let out startled yells after a few of them were taken out in the explosion. Dagger's heart raced, there were so many of them. She just had to hope that their backup would be there soon.

She kneeled down, still behind the wall but facing the droids. Boost did the same and they both raised their blasters. With a nod shared between them they leaned out in a synchronized move and opened fire on the droids.

"Ahh! Boss!" came the shrill cry from one of the battle droids, "The clones are attacking us!"

"Fire back you idiot," the apparent commanding droid ordered.

Dagger had to duck back behind the wall to avoid being blown to bits by the droids. She looked over to make sure Boost was still safe. She found him looking back at her and heard him over the comm, "What now? Any more grenades? Droid poppers?"

She slung off her pack and looked around for anything that could help, "Two more grenades and three poppers."

"Well don't wait on my account. You throw and I'll blast them in the confusion."

"Right, let's just hope I don't get shot when I do that," she grumbled the last part under her breath.

She grabbed another spherical grenade, tossing it up into her hand and catching it lightly. Dagger took a deep breath, her thumb pressed the button and she stepped out and threw as accurately as she could. She aimed to get as many of the supers as she could, they were always harder to take out anyway.

She dove back as all of the blaster fire was aimed at her. One blot wizzed a bit too close to her helmet for her liking. Boost got off a handful of good shots, but the window of opportunity was narrow and he was only able to take out three of the droids.

There were too many of them. They were just two soldiers, if there was a jedi here there would have been no problem. Dagger had to fight to keep herself from panicking, there would be no jedi to come and rescue them today, it was up to them to save themselves. She took another deep steadying breath, they could do this. She wouldn't give up on Boost and she wouldn't give up on herself. This is what they were trained to do.

She picked up one grenade and one droid popper. Dagger forced some humor into her voice as she pretended to weigh them in her hand, "Which one do you think the tinnies would look better in? Electric shock or an explosion?"

Her joke was rewarded with a burst of laughter, "Try the popper, I think they would like it."

She stepped out once again, heart still pounding, and hurled the sphere into the mass of droids. This time they were stunned long enough for her to get a few blaster shots in as well before they returned fire. The droids were getting so close.

"Where is that backup? I don't know how much longer we are going to be able to hold them back," she asked from the safety of her corner.

Boost started to reply but was interrupted from a scream behind him. Both soldiers tensed, that was a human scream. Their heads snapped to the side to see a senator being dragged away by other humanoids.

She was kicking and yelling, while she was being half carried and half dragged down the hallway, "You won't get away with this! I am a member of the intergalactic senate and representative of Naboo! Release me this instant."

"A Senator!" Dagger exclaimed. Boost looked between Dagger, the direction the droids were coming from, and where the bounty hunters were taking the senator.

"Boost you gotta go! I can't get across this hall again without getting shot, you have to go save the senator!"

He shook his head, "I can't just leave you here! We are going to be overrun at any moment! You are gonna get shot if you stay here!"

"The Senator is more important and you know that! I will hold them off until reinforcements arrive. They can't be far away now."

Boost let out a hefty breath of air, he hated how logical the argument was. He hated that Dagger was right. He had to go save the senator, "You stay under cover ok? I will be back for you."

"I know you will, now go!"

And he did. Boost sprung to his feet and chased after where he had seen the small group go. Dagger's panic threatened to overtake her again as she saw his retreating form run down the hallway away from her. The only other form of backup she had was going to save someone else.

She shook her head, that was the way it had to be. She didn't need anyone else to save her. With hardened eyes she gripped her blaster tightly and grabbed another droid popper. All she had to do was survive long enough to kill all the clankers.

She smiled to herself with a forced confidence, telling herself in her mind that she could do this. Two droid poppers, a nearly full blaster, and the best dagger in the galaxy. Those droids wouldn't stand a chance against her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, sorry for the long delay between chapters, university has been trying to kick my ass. I hope you liked the chapter!  
> So I have been writing a few things for this story that don't quite fit into the main story line. A few of these are What-if type chapters (some are NSFW and pretty smutty) with the characters and would be like individual chapters that didn't actually happen in the story but I wanted to write them anyway. Also, I have a few ideas for missing scenes that just didn't fit into the story with the timing of everything. Would anyone be interested in reading these if I were to post them? If you would be interested in reading any sort of missing scenes or what-if scenes please leave a comment on what you would want to read. I would really like to write more stuff like that and if anyone is interested that would be super cool. Let me know what you think in the comment. Love y'all!


	49. Chapter 49

Droids, the approximate number of them? Too many. Dagger wasn’t sure exactly how many were still approaching her but by the amount of noise they were making, it was definitely in the range of too many.

She rolled one of the droid poppers in between her palms, her heart was racing. She hoped Boost would make it in time to save the Senator. A selfish part of her wished he would be able to hurry back. 

She cleared her head of any thoughts that were not about this moment, any distractions could cost Dagger her life. She took a deep breath and prepared herself. She contemplated calling the backup Boost said he had called to check on their status. With how close the droids sounded she wouldn’t have time. She would be overrun before any meaningful conversation even happened. 

She raised her blaster in her left hand and held the first droid popper in the right. In a quick motion, she started to fire on the droids, throwing the activated droid popper into the middle of them. The confusion of a direct assault gave her enough time to grab the other popper and toss it into the rest of them.

As soon as it detonated she took count and saw that there were still twenty droids or so. All focused on her. Those were not good odds. She didn’t want to stick around to find out, she wanted to run. She knew that she couldn’t, she had to hold the defenses. 

Instead of giving into that feeling of running away, she channeled it and moved forwards instead. She gave a forceful yell, a battle cry, as she ran towards the enemy, firing repeatedly at the tinnies. She could feel her breath blowing back at her in her helmet from how hard she was breathing. 

She drew her dagger and flipped it into the air. As the blade arced up into the air she transferred her blaster to her right hand and caught the dagger in her left. She spun the blade into a firm reverse grip as she rounded on the front line of the remaining droids. 

Just as the tinnie rounded on her she plunged the dagger into the base of its neck. She ripped it free without looking and it crumpled to the ground. She kept firing and she danced through the ranks of the droids. 

She was better at close combat than them, faster and able to move freely. They got confused and even managed to fire on themselves a few times, doing some of the work for her.

Dagger’s throat felt tight. She knew if she stopped moving, even for a second, they would be able to catch up and shoot her. She couldn’t stop, couldn’t misstep. She took out droid after droid, but it didn’t even seem to make a dent. 

Suddenly she saw a blaster bolt wiz by and strike home in the chestplate of a droid. A blue blaster bolt. She almost sobbed in relief. Backup, someone was behind her, someone was here to help.

Her chest ached at the violent emotion of relief being held back. She had help, but she wasn’t safe. The blaster kept firing with precise aim. She kept moving through the droids, firing her blaster and slashing through the droids. 

The numbers continued to dwindle and that feeling of relief started to grow stronger and stronger, overpowering the panic and fear of death that still gripped her heart. She danced in a dangerous battle, hyper aware of everything around her. Her armor had never felt lighter and her feet felt like they were floating. 

Finally, finally, she set her sights on the last battle droid. Jumping up into the air she planted a foot on its chest and forced it down to the ground. She followed the momentum down onto it and stabbed her dagger through its head. 

With a quick scan, she confirmed all of the droids were dead. In her kneeled position, she tucked her head down until the bottom of her helmet rested on her cuirass. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. That had been far too close for her liking. 

Without lifting her head, she turned it to the side and saw a figure standing in the hallway where the droids came from. Rex. Her captain stood with his dual blasters still raised but lowering now. He holstered them in his suit and made his way quickly towards her. 

Dagger stood on slightly shaky legs and turned to him, “Captain Rex, thank you for the assist.”

Before she could continue, before he even said anything, he barreled into her. His arms wrapped tightly around her, pulled her to his chest and off of her feet. He stumbled a few steps forward forcing her back slightly. Her hands instantly grasped his back to return the embrace.

“Rex?” she asked. She could hear his ragged breathing from where his face pressed down between her helmet and pauldron. Had he been hit in the fight?

“Don’t,” his words were gritted out as if he were talking with a clenched jaw, trying to maintain a semblance of control, “Don’t do that again.”

A bubble of nervous laughter forced its way out of her throat, “You didn’t like the way I took out the droids? I thought I was pretty artful about it.”

He scoffed and let her go looking at her eyes to vizor, “Not by yourself kid, you scared the shit out of me. We don’t go into battle without backup.”

She tensed, “Boost!”

Dagger took off down the hallway to find the backup she was supposed to have. He was the one alone now. The way that she ran off forced Rex to follow closely. She barely recognized the sounds of others coming from the same way Rex had.

Running at full speed and then stopping on a dime was not an easy thing to do, which was why Dagger almost lost her balance as she did it. Rex on the other hand wasn’t able to stop and plowed right through her, sending them both sprawling on the ground. 

Dagger wheezed as she hit the floor and all of the air in her chest was forced out by Rex landing on top of her. His hand accidentally planted on her helmet and sent it smacking against the ground. She groaned in pain. 

“I’m so sorry!” he apologized as he rolled off of her immediately. She laid there, dazed, just a moment. She had just gotten her feet under her when he pulled her the rest of the way up so she could stand. 

Dagger immediately circled back to what had caused her to stop in the first place. There was a narrow and shadowed hallway that led back into the palace. Just inside the hallway she could see a figure in white and grey crouched over something. 

“Boost?” she called.

The helmeted soldier turned to look up at the sound of her voice. His shoulders immediately sagged in relief and he stood quickly, “Dagger! You are alive!”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and she returned the gesture. A reassurance that they were both safe, “The senator?”

Boost angled his body so she could see past him. The senator from earlier was sitting on the ground beyond where Boost had been crouched. He held out a hand to gesture towards her, “She sprained her ankle in the tussle, but they left without a fight as soon as I showed up. Probably wasn’t worth the credits to take on the GAR, even if it was just me and not a whole squad.”

“We need to get her to the medics then. Let’s go find Kix,” Rex said.

Dagger and Boost snapped into action, they knew an order when they heard one, “Yes sir!”

Dagger approached the Senator, “Ma’am? Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine, it’s just my ankle. Trust me I have been through a lot worse,” she commented.

“I’m sure ma’am,” Dagger was doubtful about the amount of action a senator got, but she didn’t bother to say anything about it now, “Do you think you could walk with help?”

“You can call me Padme, and yes I think that would be best, thank you.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Dagger said, immediately forgetting that she had just been told to call her by her name. 

Dagger pulled her up from the floor and stepped under her arm to support her weight on her right side to keep it off the injury. Rex scoffed lightly, “Don’t take it personally Senator Amidala, Dagger is just being respectful.”

“Well I do suppose that is better than the alternative,” she replied lightly. They set off at a slow pace towards the medbay where they knew that Kix would be.

~B~

As they had neared the medbay, they had been intercepted by General Skywalker, who had insisted that he take the senator the rest of the way. Dagger wasn’t one to argue with a commanding officer so she gently passed Senator Amidala into his awaiting arms. The trio of soldiers were just turning around when out of the corner of her eye she saw him scoop her into his arms.

That was a bit odd for him to do, but maybe once the jedi got there the senator became more dramatic and he had just decided to carry her. Either way it was none of her business and she continued to follow Rex.

The gala and the rest of the convention had been cancelled. The senators that had not immediately fled to ships were holed up in their rooms with security details as the Naboo guards swept the palace to get rid of the rest of the droids. 

Dagger had assumed that they were on their way to assist with clearing out the droids. Which is why she was surprised when they ended up back where they had started the day. Rex knocked on the door loudly and they heard a quick shuffle from the inside, she could have sworn that she heard the sound of a blaster priming.

“It’s Captain Rex, I’m with Dagger and one other, Boost.”

The door opened slowly and Captain Kep looked up and down the hallway before ushering them inside quickly. With the door locked behind them, Dagger had the opportunity to look around. The Duchess sat at the head of the dinner table, writing something. All of her guards were scattered around the room and looked prepared to fight at a moment’s notice.

They were all watching the newcomers, tense and coiled tightly. Dagger extended her arms in a nonthreatening manner, “Rough night boys?”

The guards seemed to relax marginally. Luckily enough, for all of them, the night did not get any rougher. The all clear was declared somewhere around midnight and it was like a blanket of relief over all of them. 

Rex and Captain Keb had been in the middle of yet another battle strategy for getting out if the building unseen when it was called. Dagger immediately volunteered to go bring Boost back to his own unit. He agreed with a nonchalant wave of his hand. 

Boost and Dagger scampered out of the room like little children, chasing each other down the halls playing some form of tag. At least some of them were having fun, Rex thought as he watched them leave. 

He needed sleep, but he was unsure if his mind would get quiet enough to allow it even if he was given the opportunity. Today had been a crazy day. Rex’s mind wandered back to everything that had happened. First the attack while Rex had been in the midst of the gala, the rush of getting the Dutchess and others to safety. Then he had received a call that backup was needed in the halls.

With the Duchess in her room, he had bolted to help the one who had called for backup. As he had approached the sight of the battle between GAR soldiers and the droids he could hear blaster fire. It sounded like there were a lot of soldiers holding their own against the tin cans. With that thought in his head it had been a shock to turn the corner and see only one soldier amidst far too many droids. 

His heart had seized as he took action. His blasters were drawn and he was firing as his mind began to process what he was seeing. Dagger was in the middle of a full platoon of droids. He could see the blue stripe on her helmet clear as day. She was weaving through them with deadly intent, cutting and shooting them down as fast as she could.

He provided as much cover for her as he could, which was hard when the targets he aimed at were so close to her. Rex was stunned at the way that she moved. It was like something else had taken over her and guided her movements.

She danced through the droids in complex and twirling patterns. He had never seen anything like it before, she certainly hadn’t learned that from any GAR instructor or manual. 

He could barely take any time to appreciate her skill with how hyped up on adrenaline he was. He was angry. At Dagger for not having backup, at whoever her partner was supposed to be for not backing her up. She was taking on so many droids, by herself!

When the last droid was finally taken out, Rex watched as Dagger kneeled over the scrap she had made out of the droids. He was jarred into action as he saw her look over to him, most likely the first time she had seen him in the entire fight. 

He moved forward quickly after putting his blasters back into their shoulder holsters. It was his turn to be possessed by an unknown force. He needed to be closer, needed to make sure she was safe. He felt like his heart was going to race out of his chest and the only thoughts in his head were about Dagger and if she was safe.

He was calmed slightly as she stood on her own, but it wasn’t enough. Unable to stop himself he rushed her and wrapped her in a tight hug. He clutched her body to his, as close as he could. He could hear her breathing, he could feel it. 

Dagger was alive. Dagger was safe. Rex took a deep breath and pulled his thoughts back to the present. He pressed his hands into his thighs as he sat on his bed, trying to ground himself in the moment. He needed to stop thinking like that.

They were in the middle of a war and he couldn’t panic every time Dagger got into a firefight. Granted, she had been up against steep odds on her own and he would have panicked with any of his men, but still. She had shown that she was incredibly competent and he needed to trust her. He wouldn’t always be there to protect her like he wanted to be.

Rex looked up at the sound of some commotion at one of the back bunks. The mandalorian guards were all hovering around Miann who was sitting up on the edge of his bed holding something for them all to see.

Curious, Rex stood and made his way over to them. As he got closer he could tell that they were reacting to something that was playing on a datapad. They kept watching a clip play out over and over.

Rex put a hand on the closest guards shoulder, one he didn’t know the name of, to announce his presence, “What are you watching?”

“Your boy, Dagger. Miaan was in the security room and downloaded the security footage from earlier. He absolutely destroyed those droids,” the guard responded. 

Rex peered over the shorter man’s shoulder and watched the security camera footage of Dagger dancing through the droids and slicing them down with her blaster and dagger. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. He nodded and watched along with the rest of them.

Miaan rewound the clip and played it again. As it neared the end he got all jittery and pointed at the screen, “This here, this is the best part!”

It was the point at which Dagger had kicked down the droid and plunged the dagger into it. They all cheered as the end of the clip played out, right up to where Rex hugged Dagger forcefully. The video ended and the image of them embracing froze on the screen. 

Rex’s face heated up at that, he hoped that no one got the wrong idea by seeing that. If they were anything like his own vod, he knew that he was about to get laughed at.

Miaan took a look down at the screen and back at Rex, a slow smile curving its way onto his face, oh boy, “So Captain Rex, this you?”

Rex kept his face decidedly neutral, “Yes.”

Someone else spoke up, “That seems like a pretty friendly hug for just brothers.”

Rex felt his entire body tense, he looked to see who had spoken and wasn’t surprised when he saw it was Tenroh. The Mandalorian wore an expression of disdain on his face. Rex’s jaw clenched at the implications that the man was making. 

It would seem that some of the other Mandalorian guards also shared his opinion, as Miaan jumped up from his bed, “Hey! You can’t just say things like that. Captain Rex was just happy that Dagger wasn’t dead. You saw how many droids he had been facing, he shouldn’t be alive right now and he was glad that he survived.”

Rex was locked in a staredown with Tenroh, but he appreciated Miann’s support. Tenroh seemed to be ignoring his own comrade, “You all are so desperate aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” Rex asked through gritted teeth.

“You clones are so depraved that you turn to your own just to get laid?”

That statement was what snapped Rex, he lunged forward at him with a raised fist. How dare this man accuse Rex of using one of his subordinates. How dare he think that he knew anything about Rex or his brothers. 

Tenroh flashed a satisfied smirk at the break in character and lunged forward himself. Before either of them could get at each other, they were stopped by multiple people grabbing them and holding them back.

Rex struggled against the hold on him, he really wanted to put his fist through Tenroh’s face. He didn’t know what made him more angry. The fact that he thought relationships between clones were a bad thing or the fact that he thought that Rex would stoop so low as to use a brother to get laid. 

Tenroh was being hauled backwards by someone as Rex was yelling at him. Honestly, he had no idea what he was saying, but he was sure it was full of explicatives for the man. Captain Keb had a firm grip on Tenroh as he all but threw him out of the room, “Get the fuck out and don’t come back until you get your act together! You know better and I expected better of you!”

Keb slammed the door behind the man and the room went quiet. Rex stopped yelling, but his heart was still racing in anger. He yanked his arms out of the hands of the guards. They let him go easily and he stalked back to his side of the room. The quicker he got away from everyone the better. Damn Mandalorians and their superiority complexes. If he never saw Tenroh again it would be too soon. 

He practically threw himself onto his bed and he pulled out his blasters and cleaning kit. He scrubbed the weapons furiously, trying to channel his anger somewhere other than at anyone here. His fists still itched to go beat some sense into Tenroh.

Rex almost shot Miaan when he suddenly sat down next to him. Stopping himself at the last second, he just glared at the guard. Miaan didn’t seem to take offence to this or leave like Rex wanted him to.

“No one else here thinks that you know?” He said.

The statement startled Rex, he had assumed that Miaan had come over to make fun of Rex even more. Maybe even insinuate that Rex took advantage of his brothers again, “What?”

“I know it doesn’t help now that Tenroh already spouted his load of bantha shit, but I just wanted you to know that the rest of us don’t agree with him. We don’t care what you do or who you care about,” Miaan explained.

Rex went to defend himself but the man put a hand on his knee to stop him, “Captain isn’t gonna let him get away with it either. He has always been racist towards the clones. I heard Captain talking to the Duchess earlier in the mission, after the first time he made a problem with you boys. Keb wants him off the guard and I agree with him.”

Rex looked up at him, trying to analyze the Mandalorian. It wasn’t often that people stood up against their own. Even less often did people stand up for Rex or any of his brothers. They were clones, no one cared enough to worry about what they thought.

“I-,” he cleared his throat, “Thank you, Miaan.”

The man nodded with a light hum, taking his hand back into his own lap. He leaned over and bumped his shoulder into Rex’s lightly, “Besides I think you and Dagger would be cute together.”

Rex’s face flamed a deep red color and he ducked his head, “It’s not like that.”

“No?” Miaan asked, “It sure looks like it might be, but I respect that. You are a good Captain Rex and a respectable man, nothing is going to change that.”

With his bit said, Miaan rose from his seat and left Rex alone. Alone and confused that is. This day was not going well for Rex, hadn’t been for a while. And now everyone thought that he had a crush on Dagger. 

It didn’t matter that it was the truth, Rex didn’t need them to know that. He scrubbed his face with his palms, trying to make everything stop being so hot. Stars, had they never heard of air conditioning on this planet?

He pressed a button on his comlink and it chirped when it connected, “General Skywalker? When are we planning on leaving?”

“Had enough of Naboo already Rex?” he could hear the smile in his General’s voice and it only served to frustrate him more, “We should be leaving first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you sir,” with his question answered he cut off the connection. Rex let out an exasperated sigh and flopped back on the bed. He didn’t even bother to lay the right way and fell asleep with blaster parts next to him and his feet still planted on the ground. 


	50. Chapter 50

It really was a good thing that they were leaving soon. If Rex saw one more of his detail get into a stupid competition with the Wolffe pack he was going to loose it. His eye was actually twitching as Cricket once again challenged Sinker to an arm wrestle in spite of the fact that he had lost the last five rounds of that exact game.

The only thing keeping Rex sane was the fact that Dagger was not participating in any of the pointless competitions. With the way that she had a way of getting into trouble he really was glad that she decided to sit this one out. In fact, she was sitting next to Rex on a crate in the docking bay they were all waiting in. She was reading intently from her datapad on the Kotep'an family line.

He glanced over every once in a while, every time he found her hunched over the tablet in a quiet concentration. She didn't even look up when two members of the Wolffe pack started wrestling and one of them got slammed through a table on accident. Rex himself would have been concerned would it not have been for both participant's hearty laughter. He rolled his eyes. Rex worked with children, he really did.

There should be a shuttle coming to get them soon. The GAR soldiers were being taken back to their respective units, apparently there was no need for them to accompany the politicians back to where they had come from.

Dagger thought that the Duchess had already left for Mandalore, so she was surprised when she looked up and saw her approaching with Captain Keb and Miaan by her side.

She clicked off the datapad and stood to greet them. She could see her own Captain watching them out of the corner of her eye, "Duchess, I thought you had already left for Mandalore."

"We are leaving soon, but I have a gift for you," the Duchess said, then she gestured forward, "Captain, if you please."

Captain Keb stepped forward and handed a big duraplast case to Dagger. It was similar to the ones that would carry rifles, but a bit wider. She took it from his outstretched hand. The case dipped slightly, as she hadn't been expecting the weight.

She looked between them in question, "Why for me?"

"I saw from Miaan's recording how you fought against the droids. A true show of courage, I know that the Kotep'an blade will serve you well. Maybe this can do even more good for you. Fashioned for a true Kotep'an with traditional colors and is fit for a true Mandalorian. It isn't right for it to sit in disuse any longer," The Duchess took a breath, "Think of it as a thank you for all that you have done and all that you will do."

Dagger dipped her head slightly, "Thank you Duchess. It was a pleasure to serve you. Captain Keb, Miaan, I hope I will see you all again someday."

Miaan smiled from behind his own open faced helmet, "You can count on it Dagger!"

With a quick goodbye they all turned and made their way across the docking bay, leaving Dagger alone with her gift. She turned and set the box on the crait that she had been sitting on, next to Rex. He shuffled over slightly to make room, "What is it?"

"I don't know," she said as she popped the clasps open at the front.

She lifted the hinged top to reveal what was inside. Dagger froze as she saw what was inside of the box. Her breath caught in her throat and she was stuck in her spot, just staring in awe.

Laid out artfully inside was a full suit of Mandalorian armor. Pieces laid out in protective foam as if the beskar armor could ever be marred. The armor was primarily red with accents of purple, the same shade as the gemstones in the hilt of her dagger. The vizor of the helmet started up at her expectantly.

She gently reached forward and pulled out the helmet. She held it up so she had to crane her head up to look into the impenetrable vizor. Dagger was hit with an intense feeling of deja vu. Looking into a Mandalorian's helmet, apparently it was her helmet now.

Rex reached into the case and pulled out a slip of paper. He read it aloud, "When a child of Mandalore is born, their family commissions a suit of armor for when they come of age. The armor is generic and then fitted to the specifications of the warrior. This set of armor was made for Kayda Kotep'an, the lost child of the Kotep'an line. Like the dagger, this suit of armor is one of the last remnants of the Kotep'an line. It is meant to be used, please use it well Dagger. Signed Duchess Kryze."

Rex looked up at Dagger, who had since lowered the helmet but had not stopped looking into it. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you good?"

Dagger shook her head as if digging herself out of her thoughts, "Y-yeah. This is just a lot. I can't believe that the Duchess gave this to me."

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Honestly, me too. That is a pretty impressive gift, but she was serious about carrying on that family's heritage. What better way to do that than wear the family's colors?"

"Rex, I can't even wear this armor. I have to be in this," she said gesturing to the white and blue armor she already wore.

"Then maybe it will come in handy someday," he supplied. She nodded with him, still blown away at the significance of this gift. How could she ever be worthy of armor made of pure beskar?

~B~

Rex had seen a lot of bad things in his life, experienced quite a few of them too. This moment, however, was not one of them. In fact, this was a moment that he was savoring because of how good it was.

Rex found himself wishing that the hyperdrive would break and force them to fly the old fashioned way to the Resolute. Or maybe that hyperdrive stretched time in the other direction. Either way, he knew that this was only a brief pause in the chaos and he wanted it to last as long as possible.

Did it matter that he couldn't move? No. It was just nice to be here all the same. Rex was laying on the hard floor of the shuttle on his back, he had five troopers in various states of armor piled on top of or next to him. A true Torrent Company dogpile.

Rex smiled at his predicament. The troopers were all resting, some even asleep, after a successful mission. Fives was pressed against Rex's right side, completely on his arm, which had gone numb a half hour ago. Cricket was perpendicular to Fives, resting his head on the ARC's side and snoring softly.

On his other side, Jesse laid on his back with his head on Rex's unarmored chest like a pillow. He softly petted his hands over Kix's buzzed hair as the medic slept on him. Kix laid mostly on Jesse, head on his chest and body between his legs.

Rex shifted slightly and turned his head to the left He couldn't turn his head fully because Dagger's helmet was there. She was sprawled out on the floor above him on her stomach. Her helmeted head rested on his shoulder as she faced him.

With the helmet, he was unable to tell if her eyes were open or closed, but with her deep steady breaths he could make a pretty good guess. Rex's face was stuck with a soft smile on it.

His left hand came up slowly and rested on the back of Dagger's helmet, right over the painting that he had made on it. He tilted his head forward into a soft keldabe kiss. Dagger didn't move or acknowledge it in any way. She was definitely asleep and Rex was glad, she needed the rest.

With a soft sigh he pulled away, allowing his hand to rest on Dagger's shoulder lightly. He felt Jesse shift on his chest and tore his eyes away from the blank vizor of Dagger's helmet.

The tattooed trooper looked up at Rex. His voice was low so he wouldn't wake the four sleeping vod, "I saw that."

Rex looked back at him with a neutral expression, too satiated to even stiffen at the comment. Jesse wouldn't be one to judge him, never had been, "And I see you, vod'ika."

Jesse nodded slowly and turned his head back towards the ceiling. Rex followed suit and watched the hull of the ship. He didn't know when it happened, but eventually his eyes slipped shut of their own violation. He passed from consciousness into a peaceful sleep easily. Surrounded on all sides by brothers and a sister. Rex really couldn't remember the last time he had been this content. A good moment indeed.

~B~

Dagger let out a yawn as she stretched. Her head spun slightly after she had stood up from her nap. She rocked up onto her tip toes as she stretched her arms upwards.

She felt someone poke at her armored belly and swatted the hand away, "Get out of here Fives."

The ARC trooper chuckled before ducking away from her arm as it reached out to swat at him. General Skywalker had announced that they were about ten minutes out, so the troopers reluctantly got up from their dogpile.

The soldiers grabbed all of their gear and strapped into their seats for the drop out of hyperspace. Her case of armor sat securely on the ground between her feet. Dagger could hear her stomach growling as she buckled up. She had skipped breakfast this morning in their rush to get packed and ready for their trip.

She hoped that no one else had heard her stomach growling, but the way that Kix and Rex looked at her from either side made her think that was not the case. Both of them took a breath to say something.

Rex was the first to speak, "You should go get some food when we get back."

Kix nodded and nudged her shoulder, "We could get some food to go and you can come back to the medbay with me if you want. I'm sure the Captain would want his office to work on his paperwork."

"Thanks for reminding me," Rex grumbled.

Dagger nodded, "Aren't there things we have to do after the mission? Do we have time to go get food?"

"Nothing urgent, just post mission briefings. Take your time and actually eat, not just inhale it."

Dagger nodded sheepishly, she didn't think that she needed to be told to go eat or to slow down eating. She was just used to eating fast and getting her helmet back on. She didn't want to keep it on as much as she once did.

She held onto the shoulder straps as the ship started its descent on the Resolute. Once they were safely landed in the hangar they all unbuckled and stood with their gear. Rex moved stiffly, she almost asked if he was ok, but decided against it.

He had been doing well most of the day. So maybe the angry expression on his face was just him being tired. She couldn't think of anything else that would have shifted his mood so quickly.

His expression softened slightly as he looked at her. He lowered the ramp for the detail to depart the ship. He gave her a short goodbye before he shooed her and Kix along to the mess hall.

Dagger wouldn't admit that her steps increased just a bit at the prospect of food. Now that it was a possibility for the near future, her stomach was increasing its efforts to remind her of its emptiness.

She walked side by side with Kix to the mess hall, through the line, and then to the medbay, they chatted the entire way there. It was nice to be able to just talk to someone for a while. No mission to be worried about, no hiding. She didn't have to, not from Kix.

They got to the medbay, which was empty, and sat at Kix's desk to eat. She pulled off her helmet and was thankful for Kix not staring at her. She decided it might be a good time to talk to Kix about her face, "You know how you told me I could trust Rex?"

He nodded, "I do."

"Well, I did," she said, Kix paused and looked at her expectantly, "I showed him my face."

"How did that go?"

"Better than I could have ever hoped for. He- he called me beautiful. He wasn't even mad at me for hiding," she explained.

Kix smiled, humming lightly, "I'm sure he did say that. I'm glad it worked out well and I'm proud of you for telling Rex. That was a big step for you."

She ducked her head slightly, "I just don't want to hide anymore. I want to be like you and everyone else. I don't want to have to wear this helmet all of the time. But I also don't want to lose all of my friends, or even my position in Torrent."

"Take all of the time you need to be comfortable, Dagger. I know they will accept you whenever you feel comfortable enough to tell them," Kix replied.

"What would you think if I were to go tell them now?" she asked and held her breath for his response.

Kix blinked at her in shock, "Right now? Are you sure?"

"I don't know," she rested her chin on her hands, thinking.

"I will be behind you, no matter what you decide," Kix said calmly.

"Well first of all, I am going to finish my food, but I'm still thinking," Dagger said with a little smile. It was nice to know that she had Kix's support no matter what she chose. She took her time chewing her food, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to tell everyone what she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, a little bit of a shorter chapter today. I wanted to have a nice wrap of this last arc before getting into the next one, I hope you enjoyed it. I can't believe we are already at chapter 50, its just crazy to me. Thank you for reading and thank you to everyone who leaves comments. They always make me so happy to hear what you have to think.


	51. Chapter 51

Dagger made her way into the barracks, Kix walked with her. She wanted to drop off her gear, excited to show Echo her new armor. Making her way to her bunk she threw her duffel up on top before setting the armor case on Cody’s old bed. 

She straightened up and surveyed the room. There were more people than usual in the room, but it was almost silent. It also seemed like everyone was looking in her direction. Fleeting glances at her or behind her, no one was willing to make eye contact for too long even through the helmet.

She turned to look behind her, at first she didn’t see anything wrong. Rex was sitting in his bunk leaning back against the wall. Something in his lap.

Then she looked at what was laying in his lap, or rather who was laying in his lap. Echo, passed out on Rex. While Echo sleeping on the Captain was a rare occurrence, that was not what spurred Dagger into a burst of action to get to his side.

Echo was covered in bruises. One eye swollen, his nose looked crooked, and his cheek was split open. Small trails of blood had dried on his face while he slept, all of the injuries looked fresh.

Dagger crowded onto the bed in the open space, fingers ghosting over Echo’s face, “What happened to him?”

She looked up at Rex, shocked at the state of her friend. Her searching gaze was met with one of stone faced neutrality, “He’ll be ok.”

Dagger gaped at him, mouth falling open as she tried to find words, “What do you mean? Who did this to him?”

“I did,” was Rex’s reply. He looked away from her, unwilling to watch as she recoiled away from him slightly. He had never meant to upset her.

“Rex? Why?”

“Punishment to fit the crime,” he said, “Some taboos should never be broken.”

Dagger stared at him for a long time, he did not return her gaze. She couldn’t tell what was going through his mind. Was this all her fault? If she had never hidden her face then Echo wouldn’t have had to protect her secret. Then he wouldn’t have kissed her, which is the only reason Dagger could think of that would explain why Rex did this to Echo.

She looked up as he tapped her lightly under the brim of her helmet. His knuckles split and bloody, “Hey. None of this is your fault. Echo isn’t mad at you, it is just something that had to happen.”

“Is he going to be ok?”

A new voice spoke from behind her shoulder, “He looks fine. Just surface damage. You must have had a hell of a time holding back Rex.”

Dagger looked up at Kix. What did he mean by that? Rex let out a deep sigh and turned away again, “It already went further than I it meant to.”

She was distracted by slight movement below. Echo shifted slightly, almost nuzzling closer to Rex. He let out a small noise and Dagger tilted her head in thought. He didn’t even seem like he was in pain. When was the last time that Dagger even saw Echo this relaxed?

Rex lifted his hand from where it had been resting on Echo’s shoulder and ran his fingers through the ARCs hair. There was so much more he wanted to say, to explain. However, he knew that no matter what he said it would only serve to confuse Dagger further. Maybe she would understand in the future, but not right now. 

Kix put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him, then around the room to see everyone still watching, “Might want to wait on that thing we talked about earlier, kid.”

She nodded, she didn’t want anyone to be able to see her face right now anyway. Confusion and a type of hurt had to be contorting her face in all kinds of different expressions. 

She turned away from the pair and grabbed her case of armor and tossed it up onto her bunk next to her duffel. She really didn’t feel like putting away clothes right then, at least not with the sick feeling in her stomach. So she just leaned up against the duffel and held the armored case on her thighs.

She popped open the clasps and looked into the case again. The painted beskar still shone bright, probably the cleanest piece of armor she had ever laid eyes on. Dagger brushed her fingers over the grooves around the signature T-vizor of the helmet. 

Just looking at it calmed her nerves. The juxtaposition of the elated feeling of receiving such a gift and the shock of seeing Echo was startling to say the least. 

She knew there was nothing for her to do now, so she just tried to ignore the pair of soldiers on the bunk below and across from her. Instead she focused on the armor, a happy and familiar feeling settling in her heart. Jango had always worn armor like this, it was nice to see Mandalorian armor, even nicer to know that it belonged to her.

On the side of the helmet, by the right jaw line, along the bottom rim was a series of symbols engraved into the red metal. Mando’a that read  _ Kotep Runi. _ Dagger smiled as she brushed her gloved thumb over the familiar words. A reminder, a promise.

She examined the rest of the armor closely, something that she had not been able to do earlier. There were multiple grooves and blank slots along the armor, especially the vambraces. 

Open spots for customization, Dagger could put anything she wanted there. Her first thought was a flamethrower, but she quickly dismissed the idea. Tinnies wouldn’t care about a puff of heat when they are made of metal and it would only be a safety hazard on the ship. 

Her next thought was much more reasonable, a forearm holster for a dagger. Perhaps her old GAR blade that had been sitting in her drawers since she had been given the Kotep’an blade.

She nodded to herself, that might not be a bad idea. The only thing better than one dagger was two daggers. She thought about how she wanted it to look and what other modifications she could make to the armor for a long time. 

Such a long time in fact that she almost completely forgot about what had happened with Echo. Dagger was just off in her own world, admiring the armor and taking note of every piece. 

Kayda would have been a very lucky person if they had survived long enough for this armor to fit. She wished that the Kotep’an had the armor, it would have been a sight to see a proud Mandalorian wearing it. A small selfish part of Dagger was glad that the child hadn’t survived. It was wrong and she pushed the thought aside almost as soon as it came into her head, but it was true. If the child had survived Dagger would not have been given the armor. 

She thought about trying it on now, but it was mid day and she didn’t trust going into the locker room to change without anyone walking in. While she did want to tell everyone, perhaps that was not the best way to go about it. 

What  _ would _ be the best way to tell them? She certainly didn’t want to hide any longer and it might be difficult to get everyone together at one time. Except dinner. Everyone ate together in the mess hall, Dagger always left to go eat in Rex’s office, but the entirety of Torrent Company would be there.

Dagger smiled, a plan forming in her head. She would go get her food with everyone like normal then sit with them. Not a rare occurrence as she liked to talk with the boys for a while before leaving. Then she could just take off her helmet and start eating. 

Her heart raced even as her mind told her to not make a big deal out of it, don’t make a whole scene and then there won’t be a huge reaction to it. Maybe. Is that how things worked? Dagger honestly had no clue, but how else would you show that many people the one thing you have been keeping a secret the entire time you have known them?

Suddenly a head popped up in her vision and Dagger startled slightly, “Echo?”

He grinned through a split lip and immediately started to climb up the ladder to her bed. She snapped the case closed and pushed it aside next to her duffel to make room for him.

The ARC trooper sat next to her on the left, feet hanging off the side of the bed and threw his right arm over her shoulder in a side hug. Dagger leaned into the embrace and looked up at him once they separated.

Echo smiled again, “I’m glad you are back safe. How did it go?”

She nodded and let out a small laugh, “It went really well. Just the usual sepperatist attack and bounty hunters.”

He joined her in her laughter, “Oh, just the usual then? I’m sure you kicked ass.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she replied, “Do you want to see what I was given by Duchess Satine?”

Echo nodded enthusiastically and Dagger pulled the case back onto her lap opening it up again. She smiled under her helmet at his little gasp. His hands moved forward eagerly to trace over the hard lines of the armor. He surveyed it intensely analyzing every piece and tapping it to test the density or integrity of the metal.

“I wonder if we could ask for an exception in the regs for you to wear this instead of our duraplast armor,” Echo murmured aloud.

Dagger’s head backed up slightly, she had not been expecting that reaction, “What?”

Echo picked up the helmet and rapped his knuckles against the side, “This armor is all beskar. It will protect you better than any of our armor ever could. This helmet wouldn’t blow up in your face like your last one did. Safer.”

“Hmm, I didn’t even think about that. But I really like my helmet and that armor doesn’t cover as much. It is more plating than a full suit,” Dagger said.

“You don’t have to ask if you don’t want to, just something to think about. This is really cool armor. Have you tried it on yet?”

She shook her head, “Maybe later.”

He nodded his head. A silence lapsed over them and Dagger had to steal her nerve before she could break it, “Are you ok?”

Echo leaned his head back against the wall, he swallowed thickly, “I’m better than I was. Don’t be mad at Rex, he did his duty. He protects the unit and I got what I deserved.”

Dagger studied him, “I’m sorry.”

He looked at her sharply, “What? Why are you sorry?”

“This never would have happened if I didn’t hide my face all the time,” she explained.

Echo’s hand came down to rest lightly on her leg, “Don’t apologize for that. This isn’t your fault, I should be the one apologizing to you.”

She sighed, “I’m going to tell them.”

Echo’s eyebrows rose comically high, “Who?”

“Everyone,” she replied, “I told Rex during the last mission and I think it is time to tell everyone. I don’t want to have to hide anymore Echo. I don’t want to be afraid of what they will think.”

He nodded, a small smile on his face, “I think that is a great idea Dagger. Do you need any help?”

She shook her head, “Will you just sit next to me in the dining hall during dinner?”

“Of course.”

~B~

Dagger’s stomach was doing flips as everyone was making their way to the dining hall. She had spent the last few hours talking with Echo. Telling stories about the mission and the new people that he had met. Now it was time for everyone to go eat. 

She hung back until she walked at the back of the group. She looked up as a hand rested on her shoulder. Rex was watching at her, “Hey? Are you ok?”

Dagger nodded, “Just nervous.”

He nodded, “What’s up?”

“Captain! Dagger!” came a call from down the hallway. They both turned around and saw General Skywalker walking towards them at a fast pace. Their heads tilted in unison, they weren’t due for a mission debrief until later.

“General?” Rex asked.

“I’m glad I caught you. I need you both, you are being assigned a new mission,” he explained aas he gestured for them to follow him. 

“Sir? We just got back from a mission, haven’t even debriefed yet,” Rex stated, “What happened?”

“The senator that was almost kidnapped, that wasn’t the first time that a situation like that has happened. Those bounty hunters seem to be working for someone who wants to take out influential members in the senate. I chose you for an assignment to get to the bottom of this.”

Dagger was beyond confused at this point, “Sir, if I may, that sounds like a job for the Jedi.”

“I agree, but the council refuses to assign any jedi to the case,” he explains, “However, we have received authorization from Admiral Yularen to assign GAR personnel to the case.”

“And you are talking to us because you chose us?” Rex asks as their path leads them to the barracks once again. 

“Yes, you will be briefed more on the way, but you have to leave immediately. Grab your things,” he said.

Rex and Dagger shared a look, did they not even get to say goodbye? Dagger grabbed her duffel from her bunk and considered her case of armor. She grabbed the case and nodded to the General that she was ready. 

As soon as the Jedi saw that they had their things he was already out the door and headed to the hangar bay. Dagger looked down at the floor, so much for her plans. She just hoped that Echo would be ok and not be too upset that they left without saying goodbye.

They got to the hangar and saw that the ship was already running and waiting for them. Even if she commed Echo or Fives now there would be no way to make it in time before they left. 

The pair walked onto the ship and looked back at General Skywalker who was watching them from the hangar floor, “I can’t go with you, but Commander Thorne will brief you on the way to Coruscant. Good luck and I’ll see you again soon.”

“General,” Rex called, “Look after the men.”

“Always Rex, you two look after each other, ok?”

The troopers nodded in unison and the ship’s door closed. They were sealed inside and they strapped in for take off. Dagger’s head was spinning at the speed at which everything had just happened. One second she was just getting back from a mission and was going to tell her vod her secret. The next she was pulled away and being put on a ship for a mission that the Jedi weren’t even allowed to do.

She had so many questions that she didn’t even know where to start. Dagger looked to her side and was slightly relieved to see that Rex looked just as confused as she did. Then again, if Rex was confused did she even have a hope of understanding the situation?

~B~

Echo ate quietly in the dining hall. He seemed to be the only one to think that anything was wrong. Dagger never showed up, he had lost sight of her on the walk here and now she was nowhere to be found. 

Neither was Captain Rex for that matter. Echo just assumed that the Captain was working on some sort of officer duties, but it was strange for Dagger to not be here. Especially after she had requested for him to sit next to her during dinner. She wanted to show everyone her face. Echo thought that maybe she had second thoughts about the whole thing. 

He ate as fast as he could with his jaw still aching from earlier. He stood once he was done, not even bothering to say goodbye, it's not like he was going anywhere important. The ARC didn’t see Fives’ look of concern or the way that he stood and followed him out of the mess hall. 

Echo made for the barracks at a quick pace. Maybe Dagger would be there, something about this didn’t feel right to Echo. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Dagger would have said something if she had changed her mind, not just disappeared. 

He strode through the barracks doors, quickly followed by Fives. The entire room was empty. He made his way to Dagger’s bunk and his brows scrunched in confusion when her duffel and armored case were both gone. He checked the drawers to confirm that they were still empty.

Dagger had taken her things, she was gone. Echo couldn’t help the small noise of frustration that came out of him. Where could she have gone? Why hadn’t she said anything?

He turned at the feeling of a hand on his unarmored shoulder. Fives was facing away from Dagger’s bunk and gestured in front of him. Rex’s bunk was just as barren as Dagger’s had been. Both of them were gone. 

“Where did they go Fives?” he asked his ori’vod.

The ARC trooper just shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“I heard General Skywalker call them away just before we left for the mess hall,” Jesse stood in the doorway of the barracks, “I think they got assigned a new mission. Had to leave immediately.”

Echo’s face crumpled, “A new mission? They just got back from one.”

Jesse held up his hands in a placating gesture, “That’s all I know, you will have to ask the General if you want anything more than that.”

The three troopers all just shared a look. No one liked it when vod had to leave without saying goodbye. Sometimes they didn’t make it back to say anything again. Too many words had been left unsaid that way. Echo just prayed to the stars that his vod would be safe on this mission.

~B~

Once the ship was safely in hyperspace, they unbuckled and sat patiently, waiting for things to be explained. There was no use in asking questions before any information had been given, no matter how tempting it was. 

The door to the cockpit slid open and a red painted trooper emerged. Rex and Dagger stood to greet him. The man took off his helmet and smiled at them. Rex and the Commander grasped each other's arms in greeting.

“Commander Thorne, it’s good to see you again.”

“You as well Captain Rex. Dagger it’s nice to meet you,” the man, Thorne, said.

“Likewise Commander,” she said.

“So did the General brief you at all on your mission?”

Rex shook his head. Thorne made a small noise, “I see, well first of all this is an undercover mission. You will be infiltrating a group of bounty hunters with the objective of finding who has hired them. They have been targeting senators and we need to get to the bottom of this. The hunters aren’t enough, we need to find out who they are working for and how far this goes.”

“Undercover? As what? We are clones, it’s not like we really blend in,” Rex said.

“Well from what I hear,” he gestured to Dagger, “You don’t necessarily look like the rest of us. Your GAR profile is now hidden in a private server so no one could find it even if they tried. Rex your cover is as a deserter, your GAR profile has already been changed to reflect this. You were left behind in the confusion of a battle and Dagger saved you. Now you both are looking for work and want to get in with a group.”

He took a breath, “That’s where we are headed now. The bounty hunters were spotted on Coruscant. You will be dropped off there and will try to meet up with them. Your mission is to do everything you can to become a part of their group and get information out of them.”

“If Rex is a deserter, what is my cover?” Dagger asked.

“Ex-military from Alderaan,” Thorne said.

Dagger looked over her shoulder at the case she had brought, “I have a better idea.”

Thorne raised a brow as she retrieved the case and set it on the table in front of them. She opened it up, “How does rogue Mandalorian for hire sound? I could say I picked up Rex in my journey through the outer rim and he has been operating as my teammate ever since.”

Rex nodded thoughtfully, “Being indebted would be a good way to explain why we are together. I think it is a good idea.”

“Not quite sure how you got that but yeah, that sounds like a good plan. We don’t know how deep this operation will go. We can’t send you in with any trackers or they could find them. However, there will be an encrypted comm channel open all day every day in case you need to report to us.”

“So, to put it plainly,” Rex started, “Get in with the hunters to earn their trust, work with their crew until we can find out who they work for, and then what?”

“Then contact us, if we can take out all of the parties then you can come home. It all depends on what you are able to find out. I really have no idea how long this mission is going to take. Could be a week or it could be a month, maybe even more.”

Rex and Dagger shared a look, this is certainly not how they were expecting any of this to go. Orders were orders, and they had to be followed. Dagger couldn’t really protest the mission, but she had her doubts about why she was chosen for this job.

They asked questions and ironed out details for the rest of the flight. They agreed that Thorne would drop them off near the GAR barracks with a comm. They would get new clothes and then check in to get the coordinates of the bounty hunters and then ditch the communicator before going to try to get in with their group.

Dagger and Rex went through their duffel bags and started to take out the GAR clothes that they had. Where they were going, they wouldn’t be needing their blacks. They stored the clothes in bins in the ship, Thorne promised to take care of their things until they returned.

The few hours that it took to get to Coruscant felt like just minutes with how busy they were. With sorting their belongings and solidifying their back story, Dagger barely had time to even think about why this was happening. There was only time for it to happen and there was nothing she could do about it at this point.

Thorne set the ship down on the landing pad on top of the GAR barracks. He handed Rex the communicator and a bag of credits. Rex whistled at the weight of it. There were a lot of credits, hopefully it would be enough to get them by until they joined with the crew and started working with them. 

The Commander wished them luck as they made their way out of the GAR building. They shared a look as they finally walked out onto the street. Their first objective was to get new clothes.

Dagger smiled, it would be nice to see a friend again. She motioned for Rex to follow her as she walked along the street. Taking the same sidewalk that she did all of those weeks ago she led them to a clothing store. 

She grinned as she opened the door and saw the owner standing behind the counter. Dagger held up a hand, smiling bright under her helmet, “Astra!”

Astra’s head shot up and she saw the two troopers standing in front of her, “Dagger is that you? And Captain Rex?”

Rex smiled as he took off his helmet and nodded to the woman. Dagger took off her helmet as well and Astra gasped, “Dagger! Your helmet!”

She nodded, “It’s ok Astra. I wish we came here just to visit, but we actually need your help. We are going on an undercover mission and need some clothes to blend in. Anything not standard issue from the GAR and can be worn under armor.”

Astra nodded, her mind already running a mile a minute thinking of what they could get, “Well, you two came to the right place then. You know I’ll hook you up.”

It didn’t take long until they were in new, civilian, clothes. The apparel could still be considered tactical gear, but it was far from standard issue. Rex wore dark grey pants and a black long sleeve. He put back on his vambraces and shoulder armor, opting to leave behind his asymmetrical pauldron and all other armor. He was still debating bringing his helmet or not, but he figured he could decide later.

Dagger was similarly dressed in dark cargo pants and a long sleeve shirt. They were all black and form fitting. Rex watched as she started to put on her new armor, he was a little jealous that she would have a full suit of armor where he could only bring a few pieces of his own. 

She lifted the cuirass over her head and tightened the straps of the chest piece. Next, she attached the thigh pieces and secured her holster to her right thigh, dagger back in its rightful place. She secured the rounded shoulder armor and then the vambraces to her forearms. 

Rex watched closely as she did all of this, he found himself also wishing it was a more complete set. He would rather Dagger be covered head to toe with the beskar instead of it just protecting strategic points. It would keep her safer, so he really wasn’t in any position to complain. 

He gave a nod of approval when Dagger was finished and she looked at him. She looked damned good in the Mandalorian armor. It fit almost perfectly and if he didn’t know any better he would have said that it had been made for her.

With their outfits picked out, she secured her helmet under her arm. Astra, who had disappeared while they were getting ready, returned. With her she brought two black duffle bags. 

Dagger tilted her head in question, “What are those?”

Astra let out a playful huff, “What do you really think I was going to send you off with one outfit a piece? No hunny. I have more clothes in here for both of you and room in the bags for any extra things that you might want to bring or pick up along the way.”

Dagger smiled and accepted the bag that was offered to her, “Thank you Astra. You have been a huge help.”

The woman beamed at her and held up a hand as Dagger started to reach into her pocket, “No no, don’t even think about paying me for this. You know that you are my friend and my friends don’t pay here.”

“That hardly seems like a good way to conduct business,” Dagger protested.

“What can I say? I'm an entrepreneur and I’m thinking this investment is going to pay off,” Astra said as she started to herd them towards the door.

She didn’t notice Rex discretely place a small stack of credits on the counter on their way out. He was thankful for her kindness and what she didn’t know right now wouldn’t hurt.

The troopers both thanked her profusely before heading out again. Astra waved goodbye and made them promise to come see her again if they could. They agreed and set out again. 

Thorne still hadn’t checked in and told them a location yet, so they figured they had time for a short pitstop. Dagger once again dragged Rex along to a shop. This time, at least, he knew where they were headed. 

They walked into the weapons store and Dagger smiled as she saw the man inside. He looked up at them and also smiled, “Greetings! Captain Rex I haven’t seen you here in a long time.”

Rex waved and Dagger spoke up, “You probably don’t remember me, but I sure remember you Mr. Bean.”

He took in her armor and tilted his head, “The last person who came in here with armor like that left a legacy behind. What can I do for you ma’am?”

Dagger patted her thigh where her dagger was held, “I’m Dagger, I know you didn’t see my face last time I was here, but I have the dagger you gave me.”

Old Man Bean brightened up at that, “Dagger! It’s great to see you again. I’m glad you both have been safe enough to make your way back here, and with the dagger no less. I’ll say that armor is spot on to the traveler that dropped off the dagger all those years ago.”

“It was a gift,” she replied.

“We came to get a few things,” Rex spoke up, “Do you have any civilian type armor. Or at least protective gear?”

The elderly man thought for a moment before nodding and leading them over to a section of the store with a bunch of gear. They looked through the racks for a while. Rex found a black tactical vest that he liked, it had armored plating in it that could help protect his core. 

He grabbed that and picked up a few types of explosives on his way. A few grenades and some directional blasts that could be useful in getting into places. With the vest in place he elected to put on his shoulder holsters to carry his dual blasters.

He found Dagger eyeing a sniper rifle, a blacked out M110. He cocked his head to the side, “Going hunting?”

Dagger smiled at him over her shoulder, “What can I say? I liked being in the sniper position on that last mission.”

She grabbed it off the wall and picked up a few boxes of the matching ammo. It was a traditional weapon, not plasma powered like his blasters were. She found a strap for it and slung it across her back with the strap bisecting her chest in a diagonal.

Rex and Dagger looked around the rest of the store, picking up different things to help them on their mission. Rex picked up a pair of matte black brass knuckles with a fixed blade knife attached to the bottom. He never really had much use for brawling in the GAR, it was easier to just shoot the mechs.

But with this mission they were working with nat borns, maybe he would actually get some use out of these. Nothing to do with the fact that he liked them and the weapon fit perfectly into the front of his vest for easy access. His heart raced with adrenaline at the thought of knocking someone out with the brass knuckles or plunging the sharp knife into an enemy’s neck.

When they finally had everything they needed they made their way up to the front to buy it all. Old Man Bean raised an eyebrow at the sheer amount of weapons they were buying, “And here I thought that the Republic armed you guys.”

“The Republic is paying for it,” Rex responded.

Bean tallied up the cost and Rex counted out the credits before handing them over. They packed up or put on their new gear as it was applicable. Rex was just shoving his helmet into his duffel as his commlink beeped. 

“This is Rex,” he answered.

“Rex, it’s Thorne. We found them at a bar near your location, I’m sending the coordinates your way now. Is there anything you need before you head off?”

Rex and Dagger exchanged a look and reached a silent agreement before he responded, “Not that we can think of.”

“Ok, just be sure to ditch the communicator before you go in. I’ll be monitoring that encrypted frequency, try to check in when you can. Good luck boys.”

“Thank you Commander, hope to see you soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing ever seems to go to plan for Dagger or Torrent company. I'm super excited about this new arc and I would love to know what you guys think of the curve ball or where you think it is going. There is also a missing scene at the beginning of this chapter that I didn't include because it was really long in itself and because I couldn't quite figure out how to fit it in. I am planning on posting it has a separate story if anyone is interested. Probably sometime soon I will put it up for everyone to read. Wow, this is a long note... Anyway thank you for reading and please leave a comment if you would like.


	52. Chapter 52

Dagger and Rex walked side by side. On the way to the bar they went over their backstories a few times to be sure that they had them straight. They looked over the pictures and descriptions of the bounty hunters, all four of them, one last time before they entered the bar. It was time to work.

It was midday and the bar, which was more of a cantina situation than Dagger was expecting for Coruscant, wasn't busy. There were enough people filling the room to be able to blend in well enough without being suspicious.

Dagger tucked her new helmet under her arm as they made their way to the bar, scanning the room subtly and were able to see their targets. The bounty hunters were sitting at a table in the corner. They sat at the stools with their backs to the hunters, just close enough to hear snippets of conversation.

Rex raised a brow when Dagger signaled the bartender and ordered two drinks, "You know we are on duty right?"

"Yeah, and it looks like we are going to be for a long time. I need a drink after everything that has happened today," she said as she took a sip.

"Fair enough," Rex replied, "It's not over yet so go easy alright."

She nodded and took a very moderate sip of the drink. Rex eyed his own glass and took a swig as well, "Do you want to talk about whatever was worrying you earlier?"

"Aside from the fact that you beat the shit out of my best friend?" Dagger asked.

Rex looked down, "Dagger, I'm sorry about what I did to Echo, but I had to."

She looked at him, trying to analyze his expression, "I don't understand why. I asked you not to, I told you that I didn't want anyone to go around hurting Echo for a mistake."

"He broke the taboo, Dagger, and not one of the ones that don't matter. He broke the most important one, he took your first kiss. If I just let that go, anyone would think it was ok and it's not. Even if it was a mistake, he knows what he did and he knows it was wrong," Rex tried to explain.

"You told me once that we don't beat our men, what happened to that?"

Rex stopped, face contorted painfully, he had to take a second to think about his answer. When he did respond his voice was quiet, "I didn't want to do it either. I didn't want to hurt Echo, but protecting you is more important than any rule or promise that I have ever made."

Dagger stared into her drink, eyes pricking with emotion that she didn't dare acknowledge. It made sense, but she still didn't have to be happy about it. Honestly, she was conflicted about the entire situation.

On one hand she was upset that Rex had done something like that. But on the other it was... Well, she didn't have the words to describe it. She let out a sigh, "I'm just glad he is going to be ok."

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked.

"No," she responded, he asked as if she could ever stay mad at the Captain, "I was going to show everyone my face before General Skywalker pulled us away and sent us on the shortest notice mission ever."

"Yeah, I guess it just kind of happens that way. You will get the chance when we get back," he paused, looking around for a second, "Hey, stay here I'll be right back ok? Don't engage with them until I get back."

Dagger raised her glass in acknowledgement and discretely started to listen to the bounty hunters behind her. They seemed to be deep in discussion. They were talking about someone who wasn't there.

When they said "We need to find someone who can replace Jida." She could make an educated guess and assume that was the name of the bounty hunter she had blown the head off of on the last mission.

She caught bits and pieces about how they needed to look for another weapons master. Someone who knew their way around an armory. Dagger smiled as she downed the rest of her drink, standing slowly.

Completely ignoring what Rex had said she sauntered her way over to the four bounty hunters who were all crammed into a corner booth. She dragged over a chair to sit in front of all of them, it made an awful scraping noise the entire way, and then plopped down in it.

Dagger spread out and laid back in the chair with a false confidence. She had their attention now, "So I couldn't help but overhear you are looking for an addition to your little team here."

She surveyed the group as they sized her up. On the far left was a hulking devaronian, big and intimidating. Next to him was another devaronian, much smaller and with more lean muscle, he wore a smooth smile and had an air of confidence around him. They had matching pale yellow eyes, it wouldn't be a far guess to say that they were related.

The most judgemental of the group sat next to him, a female togruta with long lekku trailing down her front. Even though her species was the same as Commander Tano, she looked nothing like her. Purple eyes and deeper orange skin, the white markings are her face stood out brightly against the fiery hue of her skin. Next to her was a human, a pretty small one at that. Short-ish hair that sat in haphazard black curls. Pale skin and a small build, with shoulders curled in on themselves and lended themselves to the overall look of shyness. Dagger really couldn't tell from looking at the human what gender they were. The fact was, at the moment, not important.

The smaller Devaronian leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. His sharp teeth flashed as he spoke, "Yeah? And who are you?"

Dagger tilted her head back slightly, "I'm someone who can help with any job you need."

"Are you alone?" he asked, obviously he was the leader of the bounty hunters.

"No," she spoke slower than usual, injecting confidence into her words, "I travel with my companion. An ex-GAR soldier. We are looking for a crew to work with."

"And what kind of work are you looking for?"

"Anything that will pay the bills so to speak. We have a variety of skills, best suited for the more violent sort of jobs. From what I heard of your conversation you are looking for a weapons expert, I can help with that."

The togruta spoke up, her voice silky and smooth, "I've never worked with a Mandalorian before. Are you any good?"

It was at that moment that Rex reappeared. Dagger glanced up at him as he leaned over her and rested his vambraces on her shoulders. His stance was intimidating as he loomed over her protectively.

He spoke easy, low and controlled, his words dripped with the authority of violent confidence, "She's the best."

Dagger smirked as she held eye contact with the devaronian as Rex stared down the togruta. He continued on, "And anything she can't do? I can."

The man leaned back in his seat, his hands wound behind his horns drawing attention to them, "What percentage would you ask for?"

"Only what is fair," Dagger said, "We're actually more interested in the security you can provide. We have seen what it is like to scrounge for jobs on our own. It's safer, not to mention more reliable with an established group like yourselves. That being said, money isn't our priority, as long as we get paid a small cut and can stay on everything will be good."

"Not interested in money and smokin' hot?" the devaronian asked, "Azariah, we gotta keep 'em."

Dagger could feel Rex tense behind her and lifted her hand to touch his arm. The subtle reassurance was enough to quiet the growl she could feel starting to rumble from deep within his chest.

The togruta, Azariah, spoke up, "Don't mind Jask, he flirts with everyone. But what is it that the two of you need security from? What is it that a clone and a Mandalorian can't handle on their own."

Both of them tensed at the comment, Dagger ignored it and answered as calmly as she could, "Just trying to stay away from the direct line of sight of the Republic, other than that we don't have anyone specifically out for us. However, sometimes it can be hard to get jobs as loners without much of a reputation. Which is why I think it would be mutually beneficial."

Azariah hummed thoughtfully, she seemed to believe what Dagger was saying, "As appealing as your offer sounds, we need a minute to talk it over first. Why don't you go get a drink and I'll come find you."

The pair nodded and Dagger stood up, following Rex back to the bar where their duffels were still situated under the counter. Dagger leaned over the bar and Rex crowded close, whispering in her ear, "What the hell was that? Didn't I tell you to wait until I got back?"

She just shrugged, "I heard an opportunity so I took it, no way are they going to turn us down."

Rex sighed as he swiped a hand over his face in frustration, "I hope this works."

"It will," she said, "And what was with the death glare at the devaronian?"

Rex deliberately did not meet her eyes and mumbled something under his breath. She leaned in closer and still couldn't hear what he was saying, "Huh?"

"I _said,_ I didn't like the way he talked about you."

"So you disagree?" she asked, a devious look on her face. She was barely able to wipe the look off of her face as his head snapped over to look at her. She feigned complete seriousness.

"Disagree with what?" he asked, looking like he already knew what she was talking about but asking for clarification.

Dagger raised her glass to her lips and spoke over the rim, "He said I was smokin' hot. You disagree?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "You know that's not what I meant. He shouldn't be commenting on your appearance."

"And you should?" she teased. She let out a small giggle at the way that his cheeks flamed red.

He stared down at the table, unable to meet her eyes, "I'm sorry."

She laughed again, nudging him with her shoulder, "I'm messing with you Rex. I really don't care what people say about me. At least they aren't criticising me for the way I look, it's a nice change."

He nodded in agreement, "I still don't understand why she hated you so much."

"Some people are just hateful, there doesn't always need to be a reason," even though he hadn't mentioned her by name, she knew that he was talking about the Madam, "I haven't even thought of her in a while. It's been a long time since I have had a nightmare that featured her."

"It seems like you have a lot of nightmares," Rex pointed out. He wasn't judging her for it, just making an observation.

"Not as much as I used to. They are just different now, and I have you to thank for that."

He tilted his head and she continued on in explanation, "You killed her, promised me that she will never hurt me again. Thank you Rex."

He took a long drink from his glass, "I promised that no one would hurt you again, and I immediately failed the next mission."

She rolled her eyes at his melodramatic statement, "Oh shut up, you know as well as I do that there was no way to protect anyone from that. A freak accident in the middle of an active warzone."

"I guess."

The conversation faded and they waited patiently in comfortable silence until they heard a call from the bounty hunters. The pair turned to see Azariah waving them back over. Dagger sat back in her seat and Rex stood to her left side. He took up the stance that was most comfortable, which happened to be with his legs braced apart and arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm Azariah," the togruta started then she gestured to her left, "This is Neems, they're the team medic."

Then she gestured to the skinny devaronian to her right, "You already met Jask. He's the asshole that is our leader and on the other side of him is his big brother and the team muscle. Raybin."

Dagger cocked her head slightly, "Why are you telling us this?"

"If we are teammates, then we should all know each other's names," Neems was the one that spoke up. Their voice soft and quiet, timid but hopeful in a way.

Dagger nodded and shot a smirk up at Rex, it had worked, "This is Rex. I'm Kayda, but most people call me Dagger."

Jask smiled again, "Well it is certainly lovely to meet you Kayda."

She saw Rex twitch out of the corner of her eye, oh this was going to be interesting indeed. Rex stood a little straighter as he spoke, "So, when do we get started?"

~B~

The trek to their ship was a short one, Rex carried his bag over his shoulder and walked close to Dagger. Everything about his body language was screaming of protectiveness. He received more than a few looks from people passing by over how close he was standing.

Dagger, however, didn't even seem to notice. She followed the bounty hunters happily, just glad they had been successful so far. The ship was docked in one of the storage hangars a few levels down. A relic is what they found, an old XS Freighter, she hadn't even heard of these ships in a long time.

Raybin opened the ramp at the side of the ship and motioned them all inside, "Welcome to the Hippo."

"The Hippo?" Dagger asked.

Jask spoke up, "Yeah! 'Cause she's got a big round belly."

Dagger looked over at Rex and he just shrugged in acceptance. They all climbed inside and Jask immediately made his way around to the right where they could assume the cockpit was. They watched him disappear along the curved hallway.

Azariah led them in the opposite direction and to a series of doors. She stopped at the furthest one and motioned for the pair of soldiers to come forward. Once they did so she started tapping on the keypad on the door.

Rex almost jumped a mile into the air when she suddenly grabbed his left arm. She hushed him with a hard look and held the control unit of the vambrace to the keypad. With a little chime, something happened and the light on both the vambrace and the keypad turned green.

Azariah let go of Rex's arm and pressed a button on it, the door slid open, "This is your room. We haven't had time to clear it out, but there isn't much in here in the first place. Take anything you want because everything else is going to get tossed."

"Whose stuff is this?" Dagger asked.

"The man you are replacing. He is no longer part of the team and won't be in need of any of this," she responded.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I hated the bastard and I already like you two better. At least you don't talk my ear off," She said with a toothy smile. After that she turned and walked across the cargo hold and opened the door opposite to their apparent room.

Dagger and Rex exchanged a look before walking into their newly acquired room. There were two dressers along the side walls. Pressed up against those on either side of the room were two bunks, marginally bigger than the ones on the Resolute.

The bunk on the left looked like it was the only thing that was being used. There were no decorations on the wall and only one drawer was filled. Inside of that drawer was an open duffel bag that had even less possessions than the soldiers had brought.

Rex looked inside it, ever the pragmatist and looking for things that might help the mission. If dirty socks would help this mission he would have been in luck, but as it were the bag of items would be of no use to them. He zipped up the bag and lifted it up, he dropped it right outside of the door.

Dagger had already set her bag on the right bed and was fiddling with the strap. Rex mirrored her and put his bag down. Looking out the door he made sure no one was near.

Seeing that they were alone for the moment he placed a light touch to her hand, "Hey, good job."

She looked up at him and he could see the unease in her eyes. A quick glance told him that her body was shaking, so subtle that it took him standing just inches away to notice.

"I don't know if I can do this," she sounded scared. If Rex was going to be honest with himself, that one statement shocked him more than anything else today had.

Dagger never said she couldn't do something, she always worked hard to prove that she could. She seemed lost, like she was out of her element. The look on her face was concerning. How often did she wear that expression? How often did she feel uncertain and he just couldn't tell because her face was hidden?

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, talk to me, what's wrong?"

"I'm not- I just," she stammered, "I didn't think we would get this far and now we are in their ship. In the enemy's ship. What if I mess up? I don't know- I was never trained for this."

He smiled, trying to be reassuring, "Could've fooled me, you're doing great."

"They are going to know, they might even kill us," Dagger said, her breath coming in short pants, "Nothing is safe here, there is no backup. It's not-"

"It's ok, it's ok," Rex said as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms to try and stop the shaking, "You've got me for backup and I already know that you can take out a whole platoon of droids almost by yourself. There is nothing these four bounty hunters could throw at you that you couldn't handle."

She nodded, but still looked uncertain. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. There was something more that she wanted to say, but couldn't find the words. Rex just waited patiently.

When it seemed like she had finally given up on vocalizing her thoughts he smiled kindly at her, "It's ok, I will always be here to protect you, remember? We are both going to get through this ok? Together."

She nodded again. They both looked to the right as a shadow fell over the door. It was, admittedly, a small shadow. Neems spoke up in that soft voice again, Dagger really didn't think that they had a louder volume, "Are you hungry?"

Rex cocked his head to the side, "Is it dinner time?"

"Well, yeah. I made Aldeerian stew this morning and it has been on the stove all day. It's ready now," Neems explained as if Dagger would know what the dish was.

She had never even been to Alderan, much less had its stew. It was a good thing she wasn't a picky eater. Couldn't afford to be in the GAR, they survived on tasteless ration cubes and whatever else they could come up with in the mess hall.

Dagger followed Neems further around the circle hallway that connected the entire ship. Towards the front of the ship was a double door that must lead to the cockpit. There was a table bolted down in what had to be the dining room that was attached and a doorway that must have been the kitchen.

Azariah and Jask were already seated, he was talking about something and she was just staring ahead in disinterest. Neems just gestured vaguely to the table and they took it for the invitation it was and sat down.

Dagger went to sit down next to Jask, filling in the seat to the right, but was stopped by Rex sliding in front of her. She gave him a look, not quite sure why he wanted that seat but she wasn't going to question the Captain in front of the others. So, she just sat on Rex's right instead.

Neems had disappeared through that doorway where the smell of food was coming from. Soon enough they were returning holding six bowls and was followed by Raybin who was holding a massive pot.

"Finally," Azariah exclaimed, "I thought I was going to have to listen to Jask all night long."

"You could have made dinner yourself if you were so impatient," Raybin said as he set down the pot in the middle of the table.

The reaction to that statement was visceral and immediate. Jask actually shouted in what seemed to be fear and Neems yelled, "NO!"

That was the loudest that Dagger had heard Neems speak as of yet. The interaction made her giggle and she was able to deduce that Azariah must be an awful cook.

Raybin chuckled, "I thought so. Now eat, you all are too tiny. Especially you."

He nudged Dagger in the arm as he spoke and sat next to her, passing the bowls around the table. Rex tensed up, Dagger could feel it and tapped him on the leg. She couldn't tell if it was to calm him or herself. She was absolutely dwarfed by the size of the devaronian.

Everyone was served a portion and started eating. Rex and Dagger both looked into their bowls at the reddish brown stew. It smelled good, whatever it was, but they were hesitant to start eating it.

Once she saw everyone tucking into the stew she got a spoonful of it and hesitantly brought it up to her lips. Tasting the stew she was pleasantly surprised with it. Not bad at all.

Dagger hummed appreciatively and looked over at Rex who was practically shoveling food into his mouth. He barely even looked up at the others, instead opting for silence between bites.

"Soooo," Jask drawled, "How did you two meet?"

They paused and looked up at him, then Rex just ducked his head back down and kept eating. Dagger knew how to handle this part, just like they had talked about.

"I was on Dantooine, trying to pick up some parts for a ship I used to have. I was deep in the desert when I found this one half dead in the sand. I hadn't even known that the GAR went out that far, but he was the only one left. He came with me and we have been working together ever since," she explained.

"Why were you alone?" Neems asked. seeming very concerned about Rex in that moment.

"We were extracting a squad of commandos with a packed gunship. Something we hadn't planned for. There wasn't enough room for us all to get on the ship and back to the fleet. I was the ranking officer so I volunteered to stay back," he paused and took a deep breath.

"He said he would be right back for me, but I must not have been worth the fuel. I waited for days, but they never came back. By the time I realized that they weren't coming back I barely had any supplies left. I tried to walk to any sort of settlement, but there was nothing close. I must have passed out at some point and I woke up on a ship with an IV in my arm and her asking if I was ok."

Everyone was quiet now, like they didn't quite know how to respond. Rex put down his spoon, all of the stew in his bowl was gone.

"Good riddens. GAR never cared about me anyway. Just another replaceable cog in the machine. At least now I get to choose what I do," he spat the words.

"So you chose to stay with Kayda?" Jask asked.

"She saved my life and now I will protect hers with all I have," he said it in all seriousness. Dagger knew that, even though he was just protecting their cover, he meant those words.

"Don't say it like you are some sort of bodyguard. We work together, a team," she said.

Rex made a noncommittal sound, as if he didn't quite agree. They let the others decipher it as they saw fit. Jask spoke again, "Well shit man, if I had a pretty girl come save my life I would stick with her too."

Rex glowered at the man, but he held his tongue. He didn't like Jask one bit, not that the man needed to know that. If anyone was going to cause problems it wasn't going to be Rex. So instead he changed the subject, "What about you guys? How did you all come together."

"Well I started our little crew with Raybin, we got the family ship after the parents kicked the bucket. Azariah came next," Jask explained.

"More like I tried to kill you next and you decided you wanted to hire me," she interjected.

He hummed, "Details are unimportant. Then about a month later we got into a bad firefight and Raybin got hit. Neems here jumped him and decided that they would do whatever it took to heal him. By the time Raybin was back on his feet Neems was already part of the crew, so now Neems is with us."

Dagger nodded in understanding, "So you're the medic, he is the muscle, and you are the leader. What do you do?"

Azariah straightened up at the question, "These dummies wouldn't last without me. I have contacts across the galaxy and the best strategies of any bounty hunters out there. I make all the plans."

"And Jida? What did he do?"

"He was a more recent addition," she said, "But he was the weapons expert. A job that I have no doubt that you two will fill in nicely. A mandalorian and a soldier, you two must make quite the pair."

"We get by well enough," Dagger said leaning back, she was careful to not overstate their abilities. Her and Rex had agreed that it would be better for the bounty hunters to be pleasantly surprised with their skills rather than disappointed if they couldn't do something. Either way, this was sure to be the most interesting mission she would ever go on.

~B~

Once dinner aboard the Hippo was over, no one seemed too eager to get up. Dagger and Rex shared a look, they had no idea how to interact at this point. Any people they had ever shared meals with had been brothers, there was a certain level of familiarity among vod.

Here they were surrounded by people who didn't even know that they were the enemy. Hopefully the bounty hunters would think that their tenseness was because they were new and not suspect that they had ulterior motives.

So far, Dagger hadn't noticed any particularly distrustful looks as the conversation went on. The pair of soldiers remained quiet unless they were specifically addressed most of the time.

When there was finally a lull in the conversation Rex decided to speak up, "So what is our first mission going to be?"

"We will have to see when we get there," Jask said, "Should be about a half a day to get to Nal Hutta."

"Nal Hutta? Why are we going to that swamp?" Dagger asked.

"Because that's where I was told to meet our employers. They don't ever like to meet in the same place twice, but I always have to meet in person to get our next mission."

"So you have no idea what is up next?"

"Nah," Raybin said, his deep voice startled Dagger slightly, "It wouldn't be any fun that way."

"It's always close enough to the same thing. We are a specialized group. Our employers always give us jobs of a certain caliber," Azariah explained.

Rex nodded, unwilling to push any further with questions so early in the mission. He definitely wasn't excited about going to Nal Hutta, but it was more information than they had previously. Multiple employers who were wary of where they met up with their hired guns, never in the same place twice. He had to admit it was a smart strategy.

It might be a bit suspicious to outright ask who they were working for. Especially with the way that they seemed to be hiding their identity, so they would have to wait. See what came next, once they earned some trust he might be able to ask more direct questions. He didn't like playing the waiting game, but it was the one he was involved in now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I'm so sorry about the delay on this chapter. I wanted it to be perfect and it was giving me some trouble. I hope you all liked it. Also, if you would like to read the scene that they mention in this chapter between Echo and Rex you can check that out on my profile page it can be found under the title Atonement. You also might notice that this work is now part of a series so that is exciting. I would love to hear what you think of that scene or of anything else. As always, thank you for reading!


	53. Chapter 53

“Have you ever…”

“No, have you?”

She shook her head, “It can’t be that hard can it?”

“How would I even know? I haven’t ever done this before.”

“Good luck Captain.”

Rex rolled his eyes and pushed up his sleeves. As she said, how hard could washing dishes be?

Everything went well. A soapy sponge, rinsing stew out of the bowls and down the drain. He took careful care with the spoons after holding one under the sink and spraying water everywhere. He had silenced Dagger’s giggle with a half hearted glare. She just continued to dry the bowl in her hand before storing it with the others in the cabinet.

As it turned out, things would not continue to go so smoothly. He had been filling the giant pot with water to give it a final rinse. With soapy hands, his grip slipped and the pot fell from his grasp before he could catch it. 

The pot caught the edge of the sink and spiraled down to the floor. The impact was deafening and caused a spray of water to erupt from the pot. Somehow, in defiance of the laws of physics, the majority of the water splashed straight up and onto Rex and Dagger.

They just stared at the pot and then slowly looked up at each other. How could it all have gone so wrong? Both soldiers were soaked through at this point. 

It was at that moment that Jask poked his head around the corner, “Hey are you guys alright? I heard a loud…”

The Devaronian trailed off as he took in the appearance of both of them dripping and standing over the pot that was still on the ground. Dagger felt her cheeks heat up as he started to laugh at them. Her shoulders tensed in embarrassment, they were soldiers, they should be able to do a simple task such as wash dishes.

The man walked over and picked up the pot, “So I’m guessing that they don’t have you guys doing chores in the GAR or on Mandalore?”

Both of them shook their heads. He gave another laugh, “Y’all can go get cleaned up, I’ll finish from here. The ‘fresher is round the front of the ship if you need it. Don’t worry about using too much water,we are still hooked up to the supply lines for the night.”

They ducked their heads and made their way out of the kitchen and then down to their shared quarters. They made it into their room and Rex closed the door. He unzipped his vest and started to strip out of his soaked clothes.

Dagger had a slight smirk on her face as she leaned back along the wall, “How did you even do that?”

He glared at her, “I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“And you say I’m trouble,” she laughed, it wasn’t often that she got to tease him.

“There is a big difference between getting water everywhere and starting a fight with an officer,” he shot back.

“Hey,” she exclaimed pointing a finger at him, “That was one time! I didn’t know Wolffe was a Commander until I had already pissed him off. Besides, he started it by trying to take my helmet”

“I think you are forgetting the time we fought when you had just been assigned to Torrent.”

She stuttered, not having any excuse for that one. Her lack of words also had nothing to do with Rex peeling his soaked shirt off of his body. Nothing at all. She averted her eyes when he turned to her, there was no need for him to know that she had been staring at him. 

He smirked, she wasn’t quite as subtle as she thought. He was nice enough to not mention it, instead he just grabbed a change of clothes and left for the refresher. The door slid closed and Dagger let out another snicker, it wasn’t every day that they had to do tasks that normal people did. Really though, no one had ever taught clones to wash dishes, when would they ever need that skill?

It was only a few minutes later when the door slid open again. Dagger didn’t even bother to look up from her datapad when she spoke, “That was a quick shower.”

“I didn’t shower, sweetheart, but if you are offering the company I won’t say no,” Jask said.

Dagger’s head jerked up and saw the Devaronian standing in the doorway, leaned up against the frame and looking relaxed as ever.

“Jask,” she said, “What’s up?”

“Not much, I just came to check in. Do you like the room?”

She nodded, it was just a room, not much to see or like but it wasn’t awful either. That seemed to satisfy his curiosity and he moved on to what he really came for, “So I notice you and the clone are awful close.”

Dagger bristled slightly at that, “His name is Rex.”

He held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture as he entered the room and sat on Rex's bunk, “Yeah, Rex. I notice you two are close.”

“We work together, of course we’re close,” she responded. Where was he going with this?

“Does that mean that you two are together?”

She squinted at him, “What are you asking?”

A shadow fell over the empty doorway, “What do you want, Jask?”

Rex stood in the door, arms crossed, doing a damned good job of filling the entire opening. Dagger couldn’t help but be relieved that he was back, she had no idea what Jask was trying to accomplish and was starting to worry that the man was suspicious.

The man in question just shrugged easily and stood, “Just trying to get to know my new teammates.”

He strode up to Rex and for the first time they were able to size each other up on even ground. Jask was small for a Devaronian, but he still stood a half a foot taller than Rex. Dagger guessed that if she was standing he would absolutely dwarf her in size.

Jask had to tilt his head down to look Rex in the eyes and he could see the stubborn set in his jaw. He didn’t back up and just kept looking at him. Dagger just looked between the two of them. She really hoped Rex wouldn’t follow her example and start a fight.

In the end it seemed like Jask made the decision. An easy smile crossed his face and he angled his body to slip by Rex, “Sleep well you two, we will see you in the morning. We will travel through the night and arrive at Nal Hutta by morning.”

They nodded and he slipped away. Rex and Dagger just looked at each other. What now? Rex gestured over his shoulder, “They have warm water in the shower.”

Dagger had to hold in a laugh, unbelievable. After all that he decided that the warm water was the most important thing to tell her. She just smiled, “Ok, I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t get into trouble without me.”

Rex just grumbled as he sat down on his bunk. He pulled his duffel onto his bed and was searching through it for something as she left. Dagger slipped out of the door and found the refresher easily. Sliding the door closed she engaged the lock and surveyed the small room. As far as bathrooms go it was pretty bare bones with just the essentials, but it was clean so she really couldn’t complain.

She stripped out of her armor and under clothes. Turning on the shower she was pleasantly surprised at the water that was indeed warm. She didn’t waste time and got to work washing her hair and body. 

After stepping out she took a moment to survey herself. The scar on her abdomen was healing nicely, most days she didn’t even notice the residual pain from the injury that had almost killed her. The scar was still jagged and bright pink. She knew from experience that it would be a while until it turned white like the others. 

She pulled on clean clothes and debated putting back on her armor. In the end she decided against it and just carried the beskar back to the room. Rex greeted her with a nod as she entered. It looked like he had just finished putting his clothes away in the drawers. 

That was probably a good idea. Dagger followed his example and started to put all of her gear in the dresser on her side of the room. Afterall it did seem like they would be here for a while. She put her clothes in the top drawer and then all of her weapons in the second, the final drawer remained empty.

She sat on her bed and looked to Rex, “What do we do now, Captain?”

He stared back with slight confusion, he was no more used to this kind of mission that she was. He had never been good with undercover work. He didn’t feel like a Captain at that moment, “I- I don’t know. We can’t push too hard too fast or they will get suspicious. Maybe we can figure out who their employer is on Nal Hutta, but we have to figure out if this is the only group that is targeting senators.”

“If they even let us go with them on Nal Hutta,” Dagger pointed out, “They seemed pretty secretive about whoever hires them so they might not even trust us to go to the meeting tomorrow.”

He hummed in agreement, “In that case, we would just stay put and go through with whatever they come back with.”

“What if we are supposed to help take out a senator?”

“We can try to get a call out beforehand, but that would be risky. We will have to cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Dagger thought for a moment, “I think that we have to put everything into the first mission they come back with. It might be a test to see if we are going to be loyal to their group, we can’t give them any reason to doubt us.”

“I agree. For now let’s just get some sleep,” Rex said as he laid back on the bed. Dagger turned out the lights in the cabin and made her way back to her bunk. As usual she laid face down on the bed. She laid there for a long time, her mind was whirling with possibilities and scenarios of the mission.

Her body tensed every time she heard footsteps in the hall. She didn’t know how long she spent listening to the dark that surrounded them. Rex would shift every once in a while. It was a pleasant reminder that he was still there. She hoped that he was getting more rest than she was.

She realized that was not the case when he whispered into the quiet space between them, “Are you still awake?”

“I was hoping you were asleep,” she said.

“Can’t sleep.”

“Because of where we are or because you are thinking too much?”

He waited a moment before responding, “Just thinking.”

“What about?”

Another beat of silence, this time it seemed like he was considering whether or not to tell her, “I was thinking about something you said. I didn’t notice it at the time, but I remember it now.”

“When?”

“On the Coronet, right before you took off your helmet. You said ‘I hope you don’t hate me as much as I hate what I am’. Why did you say that?”

“Oh,” she said quietly, she had never expected him to bring that up again, “I guess I did say that.”

“Do you actually not like who you are?”

“I am a defective clone. I was made to be one thing and even that was messed up. I don’t really see all that much to like. But I think that you and the others have helped with that alot, I don’t necessarily only think like that anymore. Not with the way that you and the others have accepted me.”

The silence stretched and Dagger held her breath. Was he going to get mad at her for thinking like that? She knew it was unreasonable and she was working towards accepting who she was but it was a slow process.

“You are a good soldier. I know that and I want you to know that too. One of the best, no one else fights like you do,” he didn’t know how to convince Dagger to see herself as he saw her.

“That’s all I ever wanted to be. A good soldier,” she responded.

They lapsed back into the silence, neither was sure of what to say next. It took Rex a few minutes to formulate a response. He opened his mouth to speak, but the soft breathing from Dagger made him close it again. She had already fallen asleep.


End file.
